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GCA-875 represents workers for both Los Angeles County Metro Transportation Authority’s bus and train services and stands as the SMART Transportation Division’s largest bus/transit property.

Saying that the thousands of people in those five locals represented by General Chairperson John Ellis and his team have been through things that people should not have to go through while on the job would be an understatement.

In recent months, a LACMTA bus operator has been held at gunpoint by a hijacker, with the incident ending with the bus hitting multiple vehicles and a downtown hotel.

Members have been stabbed while in service. Passengers have been killed aboard LACMTA buses and trains. Neither rider nor worker could deny that getting from here to there was an experience not without apprehension.

Enough was enough.

Union effort brings true security back for our members

SMART-TD officers attend the board meeting June 27 when the LACMTA board approved the creation of a Transit Community Safety Department. From left are: Local 1563 Chairperson Jaime Delgadillo; Local Chairperson 1607/GCA-875 Secretary Julio Mejia; GCA-875 General Chairperson John M. Ellis; Vice General Chairperson and Local 1565 Chairperson Quintin Wormley; Local 1564 Chairperson Andy Carter and Local 1605 Chairperson Juan Gonzalez, who represents rail members. (Not pictured is Edgar Menendez, Local 1608 chairperson.)

The media publicity and outrage surrounding the violent events aboard LACMTA and the outspokenness of our union members and leadership finally helped to turn the tide with the people who could do the most.

On June 27, the Los Angeles County MTA’s board voted unanimously to create an “in-house” police agency called the Transit Community Safety Department to serve and protect SMART-TD members and the people who use LACMTA.

“It’s a victorious day,” GC Ellis said in a letter to members announcing the board’s actions. “Too often incidents aboard Metro vehicles have compromised your lives and dissuaded residents from riding the bus and rail services. Maintaining the status quo was NOT an option.” 

Meetings by union leaders with L.A. County Superintendent Janice Hahn and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass spelled out precisely what the union’s stance was — that a dedicated department focused on security was needed to ensure safety for everyone aboard LACMTA, which serves 900,000 passengers daily and is the third-largest transit agency in the U.S.

Change will take time and collaboration between union and LACMTA

To that end, rather than LACMTA being dependent on support from the LAPD and county Sheriff’s Department, the Transit Community Safety Department would fully control safety priorities and better commit resources to where our members, in conjunction with agency leadership, say they are needed the most. More than 400 sworn-in transit safety officers would be in the department and collaborate with LACMTA’s transit ambassadors, as well as with specialists in crisis intervention and homeless outreach.

A unanimous vote by board members present at the meeting created a security force for LACMTA on June 27.

While the action taken by the board June 27, along with the prior approval of barriers to protect operators, is a definitive path toward a safer direction, GC Ellis stressed to members that the change will need time to take effect — at least three to five years, according to agency estimates.

“We look forward to working with CEO Stephanie Wiggins and management to make this proposal a reality,” Ellis said. “We understand that establishing your own police agency will take years to ensure it works effectively and as swiftly as possible.

“Nevertheless, we will continue to campaign to keep our members — Metro’s frontline heroes — as safe as possible. The union wishes to express our sincere appreciation for the forward steps the board took today to create a safer environment for our members and for the riding public.”

An example other agencies and unions can follow

Transportation Division President Jeremy R. Ferguson congratulated GCA-875 on their success. But the need to improve safety in Los Angeles or at the other bus and transit properties the union represents isn’t going to disappear.

“LACMTA is a huge property with a lot going on and a lot to track — there are only two others in the country that are bigger operations,” he said. “The headlines that we’ve seen coming out of Los Angeles have been hard to stomach, and sadly the violent incidents that have happened there aren’t exclusive to there. They happen all around the country on multiple properties we represent. It’s why we’ve had to create an internal Bus and Transit Assault Prevention and Safety committee.

“John Ellis and his team have shown that our union gets things done for our bus and transit members. We all know that it’s not going to get better for our people unless we as a union lead the way and make it better. I congratulate GCA-875 on this accomplishment and being an example of great leadership.”

LOS ANGELES, (August 4, 2022) — The efforts by the SMART-TD General Committee of Adjustment GO 875 negotiation team have resulted in a new agreement for the bus and rail operators of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), which serves more than 10 million people in the nation’s most-populous county within a 1,433-square-mile service area.

On Friday, July 29, 2022, the California Mediation and Conciliation Service tabulated votes and reported 68.5% of voters had approved the agreement.

Bottom left: Office Secretary Rosana Santana; Operations Manager Maria Magallon; and Administrative Assistant Iveth Lopez. Top, from left, negotiation consultant Victor Baffoni; Local 1607 Chairperson Julio Mejia; GCA Secretary and Local 1564 Chairperson Andy Carter; General Chairperson John M. Ellis; Local 1608 Chairperson Edgar Menendez; Vice General Chairperson/Local 1565 Chairperson Quintin Wormley; Local 1563 Chairperson Robert Gonzalez and Local 1565 Chairperson (Rail) Johnny Cabanas celebrate the announcement of the LACMTA contract ratification by members.

General Chairperson John M. Ellis, Retired SMART-TD Vice President and Negotiation Consultant Victor Baffoni and Vice General Chairperson/Local 1565 Chairperson Quintin Wormley; GCA Secretary/Local 1564 Chairperson Andy Carter and Local Chairpersons Robert Gonzalez (1563), LCA-875B Chairperson John Cabanas (Rail), Julio Mejia (1607), Edgar Menendez (1608) and Operations Manager/Consultant Assistant Maria D.L. Magallon are proud to announce the bus and rail operators of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted overwhelmingly to accept the Authority’s proposed contract. The contract will be in effect for the next five years and contains a 26.6% wage increase through June 30, 2027, over the five-year period.

SMART obtained an appreciation pay for LACMTA members who worked through the COVID-19 pandemic. No changes were made to employee benefits, and the pool of full-time operators also has the opportunity to expand with the offering of full-time positions to any interested part-time operator, provided they apply by Aug. 15, 2022. The contract also modifies the carrier’s disciplinary procedures, allowing for a streamlined appeals and arbitration process. It also updates sick leave and modifications to work rules.

GC Ellis stated: “This is a historic, record-setting contract agreement. We believe that this new contract represents a significant improvement and protection in wages and benefits for our 4,600+ members and their families.” He noted that the overwhelmingly positive vote was a strong indicator that union members were pleased with the agreement and the new contract represents a monumental accomplishment.

“This agreement has rectified concerns from previous contracts and has paved the way to amend future matters that may arise,” Ellis said. “We are pleased to have been able to put together a contract that speaks volume, as powerful as this one in turbulent times such as these.”

SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy R. Ferguson said: “We’re very excited, extraordinarily proud and grateful for the efforts by SMART-TD GO 875 Committee’s dedication. In a recent visit to Los Angeles over the spring, it was a pleasure to encounter the spirit and solidarity of GO 875. I saw and heard firsthand about the great work that they do and had a chance to engage their membership as they voiced their concerns in a town hall meeting. This contract is a great step ahead and congratulations to all involved!”

GC Ellis also stated: “I appreciate the patience our membership showed during these past stressful years, and I thank every single one of our members for their support during this process.”

The contract will now be presented to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for their consideration. The Board is expected to vote on the agreement in late August or in September.

A shooting aboard a Greyhound bus traveling between Los Angeles and San Francisco shows how passenger and operator security for ground transportation is more vulnerable when compared to air travel, The Associated Press reported.
One passenger lost her life and five other people were wounded, two critically, in the shooting that happened as the bus was moving on Interstate 5 near the small mountain community of Lebec, Calif., early Monday, Feb. 3. The suspect, a Maryland man, was restrained by passengers and arrested by authorities.
“Anyone determined to carry out an attack on ground transportation faces few, if any, security checks,” the AP report stated.
The report mentions that more than 30 million people in the U.S. use ground transportation daily while 3 million fly. But spending on security for ground transportation such as passenger trains, subways, light rail and buses is dwarfed by spending on air transportation security. An estimate from a former U.S. representative mentioned that after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that security for buses, trains, subways and ferries combined was outspent by air security by more than $20 billion.
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Agency in conjunction with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is enacting security devices that scan for weapons and explosives, the first in the nation to do so, AP reported.
But duplicating the level of security that exists at the nation’s airports would be a difficult task for ground transportation providers nationwide, AP stated.
“As it is now, drivers and passengers are the de facto, frontline security when violence breaks out on buses,” the report stated.
Read the entire article from The Associated Press.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Board of Directors unanimously adopted a motion to establish an agency-wide Good Jobs and Equity Policy that will cover billions of dollars of taxpayer-purchased trains, buses, and equipment last night. The motion was introduced by Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis and included five co-authors from the Board: Los Angeles City Los Angeles City Mayor and Metro Chair Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, Councilmember Paul Krekorian, Duarte Mayor John Fasana, and Metro Director Jacqueline Dupont-Walker.
Under this new policy, for future train, bus, and related equipment purchases, Metro will apply the U.S. Employment Plan to all projects above $100 million to incentivize companies bidding on Metro contracts to create and retain high-quality jobs, partner with community and labor organizations to apprenticeship programs, and hire individuals facing barriers to employment.
“As the Secretary of Labor under President Obama, I have a deep and steadfast commitment to maximizing job creation and career development, with a special emphasis on providing employment to low-income residents and those facing barriers to employment,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro Board Member Hilda L. Solis. “It is exciting to kick start this new year with new jobs for county residents. This policy helps achieve equitable outcomes throughout the region. Thank you to our partners and the Metro Board for making this policy a reality.”
Remarking on the USEP’s emphasis on opportunities for returning citizens, veterans, single parents, and other groups facing challenges to obtaining gainful employment, Pastor Amos Young, director of Community and Government Affairs for Project Caring and Sharing Family Services, said, “This Good Jobs and Equity policy prioritizes workers who are facing multiple, significant barriers to employment. We look forward to continuing to work with Metro, and our coalition, to ensure that clients of PCS Family Services and job seekers who have difficulty securing employment, can benefit from these opportunities.”

lacmta-logoThe Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) increased security after having received a bomb threat Monday, Dec. 5.
The threat warned of a possible attack at the Red Line subway’s Universal Station in Studio City, Calif.
LACMTA is working with the FBI and police to investigate this threat.
Read more from Progressive Railroading.

LOS ANGELES – Sheriff’s deputies were searching for a man Monday (Oct. 13) who made threats while traveling on a Metro bus through Lincoln Heights.

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, a man and a woman boarded the bus from Line 33 around 1:45 p.m. at Venice Boulevard and Hoover Street.

Read the complete story at CBS Los Angeles.

Some 600 mourners – including more than 300 coworkers and UTU officials — attended the funeral June 9 of slain Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) bus operator Alan Thomas, who was murdered May 20 by a lone passenger.
Also in attendance were law enforcement officials, transit executives and political leaders and representatives of other labor organizations. Thomas was remembered by his children, spouse, parents and other relatives for his strong family ties, and mourned as a public servant “doing a job for a community” when he was gunned down in a still inexplicable homicide.
Thomas was a member of UTU Local 1563.
To read the article on his slaying, click on the following link:
https://www.smart-union.org/news/utu-member-bus-driver-murdered-in-los-angeles/

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – A Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) bus driver, and member of UTU Local 1563, was murdered aboard his bus here Sunday morning, May 20, by a lone gunman, according to media reports.

Alan Thomas, 51, who began driving part-time for LACMTA in 2007, and became a full-time driver in 2010, was taken to an area hospital following the shooting and later pronounced dead. He reportedly had been shot in the upper torso.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Thomas was leaving a layover area “when the lone passenger allegedly shot him.” The alleged shooter reportedly exited the bus through a rear window and awaited county sheriff’s deputies, who placed him under arrest without a struggle. Two weapons – a shotgun and a handgun — reportedly were recovered at the scene.

The alleged shooter, Anthony Craig Chambers, 41, of Los Angeles, was booked on a “suspicion of murder” charge and is jailed in lieu of $1 million bond, according to the Los Angeles Times. If convicted, he could face the dealth penalty under California law.

A detective told the Los Angeles Times that there was no apparent relationship between the bus driver and the alleged shooter.

Fellow bus operator Victor George, also a member of Local 1563, said, “We always are exposed to mental, verbal and physical abuse by passengers.”

UTU General Chairperson James Williams (LACMTA, GO 875) said, “I’d like to see more security on buses, such as law enforcement officers riding buses and doing spot checks.” Williams stopped short of calling for protective enclosures for drivers, saying “more study and member involvement is necessary.”

Calling the shooting “tragic,” Williams said, “We are all deeply saddened. Our thoughts and prayers are with Brother Thomas and his family.”

A friend of Thomas told the Los Angeles Times, “He had no enemies. He loved everybody. He associated with everybody.”

LACMTA CEO Art Leahy arranged for grief counseling to Thomas’ “family of fellow bus operators.”

James Williams; William, James
Williams

LOS ANGELES – The almost 5,000 UTU members employed by Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) have ratified a new contract, through June 30, 2014, by better than a three-to-one margin.

The new contract provides for wage increases, a signing bonus, improved work rules, narrows the pay gap between the top and bottom tiers of employees, and maintains health care and pension benefits.

LACMTA General Chairperson James Williams led the negotiations, with assistance from UTU International Vice President Vic Baffoni.

“We have high praise for all the general committee and local officers who supported our efforts during a difficult two-year process to obtain this agreement,” Baffoni said. “We gained stability and job security in a very troubling economic environment and we are in a position to build on this agreement, on behalf of our membership, in better economic times.”

The agreement affects UTU Locals 1563, 1564, 1575, 1607 and 1608.

LOS ANGELES — For 15 years, Thomas L. Mitchell worked a Ponzi scheme targeting and draining the retirement funds of retired LACMTA bus workers, many of whom were UTU members.

The con artist will now spend his next nine years in federal prison – having pleaded guilty to mail fraud, according to The Los Angeles Times. And while Mitchell has been ordered to return to his victims millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains, it is likely the scores of retirees, whose comfortable retirement was ruined by the cheat, will never recover their money.

Federal prosecutors said Mitchell promised high investment returns in exchange for access to the victims’ retirement funds. Only a small fraction of the money was placed in legitimate investments, with most of the funds financing a lavish lifestyle for Mitchell, according to prosecutors

The federal judge who imposed the nine-year prison sentence described Mitchell’s scheme as a “remarkable level of deception” driven entirely by “greed.” A federal prosecutor said Mitchell “was able to lead a luxurious lifestyle by stealing the life savings of hard-working men and women who only sought a dignified retirement. For his criminal conduct, Mitchell richly deserves his nearly decade-long prison sentence.”

As UTU General Secretary & Treasurer Kim Thompson pointed out in a leadership column in 2010, while “the vast majority of investment advisers, investment firms and financial planners are trustworthy professionals, an encounter with only one dishonest individual could devastate your retirement.”

Thompson recommended retirees heed 10 steps suggested by best-selling author Charles Murray, a resident scholar with the American Enterprise Institute:

1) Every deal is a potential scam: Recognize that fraud is an act of deceit by one party intended to induce another to part with something of value.

2) Map out your goals before shopping or investing: There’s a difference between “buying” and “being sold.”

3) Avoid mixing business with pleasure: According to the National Institute of Justice, the attempt to defraud is more successful if a person knows or knows of the offender.

4) Don’t get greedy: Remain calm and dispassionate.

5) Be suspicious of “inside information,” “hot tips” and “one-time offers”: Why you instead of Tom-Dick-and-Harry?

6) Educate yourself: Beware of getting all your information from the seller.

7) Double check all facts: A cheat doesn’t want himself or his deal scrutinized.

8) Don’t wilt when the heat is turned up: It takes a secure person to say “no” to pressure and manipulation.

9) A promise is only as good as the person behind it.

10) Scams copy the same methods used in legitimate business dealings: Spotting the difference can be difficult. Five tell-tale signs:

* Something is promised that borders between reasonable and too good to be true.

* Victims typically know or know of the swindler.

* A sense of urgency exists.

* A cheat doesn’t want himself or the deal scrutinized;

* High-pressure sales tactics are used.

Says GS&T Thompson: “There are many investment instruments including your own UTUIA annuities that are available in which to place retirement funds that can provide the necessary security and still provide a cash stream in retirement years.

“In speaking with a financial adviser, find out what their experience has been. Check their credentials and demand other client references. And never write a check directly to an individual. Your payment should be to the investment firm or to the investment fund itself. A request for direct payment to an individual is a big red flag!

“Remember, your retirement funds represent a lifetime of savings, and there is no ‘do-over,’” Thompson warned.