Published 03 Dec, 2013
In Georgia, Local 527 won an election to represent 53 employees of the Augusta Public Transit system in a landslide 30 to 9 vote on September 26. These new TWU members are Bus Operators, Bus Paratransit, Laborers, Mechanics, Customer Service Clerks, and Parts Clerks.
“A Bus Operator named Alicia Waters, who is now on our negotiating team for the contract, called up and asked to meet with me,” said Local 527 President Benyoel Morgan. “She said she and her coworkers were seeking representation. They weren’t paid on time, the company had dropped their health insurance plan, and they felt they were putting passengers at risk driving a bus that the company hadn’t serviced.”
As of August 1, the Augusta public transportation system has been operated by a new contractor. But at the time Alicia and her fellow Bus Operators came to Local 527, a company called Mobility had the contract and was running the system into the ground. “Safety conditions were deplorable,” said Benyoel. “With Mobility managing the work, they were concerned not only about job security but physical security. We set up meetings with larger groups of workers at the union hall. At the last meeting, they all signed representation cards.”
It was during Local 527’s organizing campaign that the city rebid the transit system contract and awarded it to the new employer. “When they took over, new management promoted 3 of our 4 organizing committee members out of our bargaining unit,” said Benyoel. “They might have thought that it would weaken our efforts to take our top organizers. But it didn’t. We kept going, and now we’re negotiating a contract.”