Members of ATU Local 1005 rallied in July outside a Met Council committee meeting in Minneapolis.
Metro Transit workers have voted overwhelmingly to authorize their union leaders to call a strike, holding firm to their demand for wages that outpace inflation.
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005, which represents about 2,000 operators, mechanics and other workers in contract negotiations with the Twin Cities’ transit agency, reported that 94% of members who voted Sept. 10-11 supported strike authorization.
Bargaining began in March, and Local 1005 President Ryan Timlin said Metro Transit’s first offer left a lot of union members “very pissed off.” The agency has proposed a 3% raise in the contract’s first year and 2% in the following two years, according to Timlin.
That’s a similar wage package to the one approved by union members in their previous three-year contract, which expired July 31. But with inflation outpacing their earnings, transit workers are looking for more this time around.
Potential new hires are doing the same, Timlin said. The agency has struggled to hire despite plans to expand the local transit system, with Local 1005’s membership down about 400 since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
“Their offer isn’t reaching market value,” Timlin said. “And among our members, there’s still a lot of anger about how management worked from home during COVID. Everything’s been building.”
Local 1005 members voted a year ago to make a “COLA +1” wage formula their union’s top priority at the bargaining table in 2023. Rather than fixed raises, the proposed contract language would determine wage increases by adding 1% to the current rate of inflation.
“It gives us a safety net in this uncertain economy,” Timlin said of the proposal. “But the members ultimately will have the final say.”
ATU’s bargaining team is also seeking a higher shift differential for workers clocking overnight hours, as well as new health and safety protections for operators exposed to drug use on the transit line or dangerous weather during mid-route shift changes.
“Drivers who do relief, they go to a specific bus stop and wait until the bus pulls up to take it over,” Timlin explained. “We’re trying to get management to agree to provide a vehicle they can drive between Metro Transit garages and those relief points, to reduce any safety issues that might pop up.”
Local 1005 and Metro Transit have bargaining sessions scheduled Sept. 22 and Oct. 5.
Before a strike could begin, the two sides would have to try mediation. The union must also give Metro Transit 10 days’ notice of any work stoppage.
Metro Transit workers last went on strike in 2004, shutting down bus service in the Twin Cities for about six weeks.
Both locally and nationally, unions are taking strike votes to show employers that their bargaining teams have the support of rank-and-file members – and to pressure management to meet the union’s demands. Timlin said ATU members “have been paying attention” to historic contract gains made by Teamsters at UPS and other unions.
“Our message to Metro Transit is let’s get back to the table and really start negotiating,” Timlin said.
Union Advocate 