Published 04 Apr, 2011
On March 31 and April 1, TWU co-hosted an international meeting of delegates from 11 countries on the subject of Veolia, an multinational company that has been rapidly expanding into the transport sector in the U.S. and Canada. The French-based company has been associated with attempts to drive down wages and eliminate defined benefit pension plans in the U.S. TWU represents Veolia employees in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Of late, Veolia has been bidding for work on TWU-represented properties in New York and Houston. The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) who co-hosted the conference, represent Veolia employees at several locations around the country.
Conference participants made a strong commitment to collaborate in solidarity to deal with Veolia.
TWU was represented at the conference by International Vice President, Roger Toussaint, who is also an officer on the Urban Transport Committee of the ITF, Frank McCann, Director of Organizing, Ed Watt, Director of Safety and Dean Hubbard, Senior Counsel, Strategic Research Department.