CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Members of UTU Local 1715 have ratified a new agreement with Charlotte Area Transit by a three-to-one margin. The new contract provides for wage increases, freezes employee contributions to health care insurance, restores travel time, adjusts work rules as s [...]
By Bonnie MorrAlternate Vice President – Bus Department Operating a bus may be the most stressful job in America. Early in November, 100 Detroit bus operators walked off the job after repeated passenger assaults. In New York, a study found a pattern of physical and verbal ass [...]
WASHINGTON – A Final Rule has been issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) prohibiting bus (including school bus) drivers and truck drivers, operating in interstate commerce, from using hand-held cell phone while operating their vehicles. Also innclu [...]
WASHINGTON — Congress, unable to agree on very much lately, has agreed on funding for Amtrak, bus transportation, commercial aviation and transit through Sept. 30, 2012. The funding is for fiscal year 2012, which began Oct. 1. Earlier, Congress agreed to legislation extending [...]
By BONNIE MORRAlternate Vice President, Bus Department As some in Congress seek to slash spending on public transit – the only affordable means for millions of Americans going to and from work – ridership is soaring. The American Public Transit Association says more than five [...]
WASHINGTON – A bi-partisan bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives to bring financial relief to distressed transit systems and to help stem cuts in transit jobs and service. Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.) and Rep. Steve Latourette (R-Ohio) have introduced H.R. 32 [...]
By Calvin StudivantAlternate Vice President, Bus Department In late August, a federal appeals court vacated the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s final rule requiring electronic onboard recorders. The court said the rule does not sufficiently protect drivers from [...]
WASHINGTON – Federal Transit Administration bus-project and other transit funding – in danger owing to political squabbling — will remain in place at least through March 31, 2012, following House and Senate action to extend temporarily, for the eighth time since 2009, h [...]
PERRIS, Calif. – In the 24th organizing victory in 43 months, the UTU has added representation of additional employees of Southland Transit here. Following the lead of bus drivers and mechanics of Southland Transit, who voted “UTU, yes” in June, the company’s call center empl [...]
WASHINGTON — Employers, including union and non-union bus companies, covered by the National Labor Relations Act must now post notices on bulletin boards informing employees they have a right under federal law to organize and be represented by a labor union. The Nationa [...]