ATU Action Weekly Update - 6/11/07

ATU Members Take Part in Labor Activist Training

Two ATU Activists took part in a four-day political training in Washington, D.C. last week.  The training was the first in a series of Political Action Trainings hosted by the AFL-CIO.  The approximately 30 union activists attending the training were from more than 10 unions and ranged from local union officers or stewards, to political activists or volunteers. 

Both ATU Activists who attended the training currently serve as their local's political and legislative director.  LeAnn Minor, from ATU Local 998 in Milwaukee, WI, took over the position of legislative director at her local right before the 2006 elections.  Victor Torres, from ATU Local 1596 in Orlando, Florida, is a long time labor activist who also led his local's political efforts during the 2006 elections. 

The in-depth training included sessions on polling and message development; how to talk politics to union members; worksite-based mobilization; doors, phones and microtargeting; press and media training; and building a volunteer recruitment program. 

"I was especially excited about this training and when I came, my hopes weren't let down," said Sister Minor.  "This was an awesome training."

"The material and the topics were on point and the trainers were excellent.  They were specific and made sense as far the everyday struggles that we incur in our local," said Brother Torres.

The AFL-CIO plans to hold regional trainings throughout the United States leading up to the 2008 Presidential elections.  Keep posted to ATU Action Weekly Updates for information about future trainings.

 

Florida Locals Fight Proposed Service Cuts

In a letter sent to all Florida State Legislators last week, the ATU Florida Legislative Conference Board warned that proposed property tax cuts being considered by the Legislature would devastate public transportation services throughout the state.

Proposed cuts would force transit agencies across the state to abandon services that target seniors, individuals with disabilities, and low income workers. "Proposed fare hikes and cuts in service at Palm Tran  would prevent poor, pregnant women from getting to the local clinic for prenatal care and seniors on fixed incomes from receiving life-sustaining treatment," reads the letter.  Likewise, the proposed cuts would cause Hillsborough Area Regional Transit to abandon proposed new service that would allow seniors "to call ahead to be picked up at their homes and then taken to shopping centers or to appointments."  In Escambia County, "seniors who rely on the bus are petrified that they will have trouble getting to the doctor and dialysis appointments."

"Perhaps your parents or some other elderly person you know relies on public transportation to get to life-sustaining appointments, or rides the bus to the grocery store.  Please think of that person when you are considering a tax package in Tallahassee," urges the letter, signed by Mike Lowery, Chairman of the conference board.

 

Pennsylvania Locals to Rally for Transit

The ATU Pennsylvania Joint Conference Board will hold a rally at the state capitol tomorrow, Tuesday, June 12th, to show their support for long-term dedicated funding for Pennsylvania's mass transit systems. 

The lack of predictable and dedicated funding in Pennsylvania has already led transit agencies in Harrisburg, Lehigh Valley, Reading, Johnstown and Pittsburgh to take drastic measures like raising fares, cutting service and laying-off employees.  Without imminent action by the legislature, the crisis will only worsen.

Governor Rendell has proposed a tax on oil corporations' gross profits to generate $760 million a year for public transit.  This funding would fill a long-standing gap and permit transit agencies to plan their budgets with a better degree of certainty and without repeated threat of funding shortfalls.  Realizing that the oil profit tax is controversail, the Governor has challenged legislators to identify other sources of revenue that might serve as a reliable alternative.

Tomorrow, members of the ATU, along with other transit advocates, will gather to send a message to their elected officials that they need to fund transit now. 

 

Clinton Addresses Union Members in Detroit

Hundreds of union members gathered in Detroit last Friday for an AFL-CIO Town Hall meeting with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.  The forum was part of a series of Working Families Vote 2008 forums with presidential candidates.

"A lot of hard-working people in this country have been invisible to this administration," said Clinton about the Bush Administration. 

Clinton heard from several workers at the forum who spoke about their personal experiences with the outsourcing of good American jobs, the difficulties workers face today when trying to form a union and this country's health care crisis.

In addressing concerns about organizing, Clinton pledged her support for the Employee Free Choice Act.  "When I'm president, we will have an Employee Free Choice Act, and I will sign it and I will work for it."

She also called for universal health care, stating, "it's fundamentally wrong that in a nation as rich as ours so many are left out of a service we need."

The next Working Families Vote 2008 town hall forum will be with Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM) in Phoenix on June 21.

Find out more about where the presidential candidates stand on working family issues at http://www.workingfamiliesvote2008.com.