Summer 2022

Informative...from a Union point-of-view

President's Report; Fight Inflation!

Workers Need a Real Raise!

TheCasefor COLA+1

By Ryan Timlin;President of ATU 1005

Working people in the USand all over the world are experiencing just the latest crisis of capitalism; inflation. This "Summer of Inflation" is driving conversations at every workplace as people are forced to deal with the convergence of rising prices, on top of heat wavesand apandemic thatjustwon'tgoaway.

Capitalism and the economists who proclaim how great the system is are downplaying the effects of inflation on working people. But we have to see through their propaganda. That is why ATU 1005 should lead the fight for a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) to keep our wages at pace with rising prices. We think workers everywhere can andshouldtakeupthisdemand.

Economists Downplay Threat of Inflation

At the outset of this most recent period of inflation, capitalist economists assured us that inflation was only going to be temporary, that the global supply chain will work itself out eventually,and priceswill go back to normal. Contrary to those predictions, inflation and rising prices is the new normal, hitting working people hardest while corporations make record profits. Theseeconomistshavenowhadto admit their ignorance. Mark Bergen, a professor at the University of Minnesota who studies inflation said, ?There is

hope on the horizon that thisisn?t going to keep on getting worse and worse, but exactly when and how,I?m not sure anybody exactly knows.? Many economic forecasters (if we are to believe them) anticipate that it will take a fewyearsforinflationtodropback totheirgoalof2%.

Wearenowexperiencingtheworst inflation in 40years.In Minnesota, anaveragegallonofregulargashit arecord high of $4.76 on June 15.

As of June 2022, the CPI-U (Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers)in the Midwest Region specifically, increased by 9.5% since June of 2021. Energy prices rose 44.5%and food prices were up 11.9%over the year (U.S. BureauofLaborStatistics).

Some capitalist economists downplay the impacts of inflation and describethiskind of economy as?hot.?Theseapologistswillpoint to alow unemployment rateto try to convince the rest of usthat the economyisactually just fine. They also want us to think that rising prices must mean a growing economy if there is this much demand for consumer goods, incentivizing more capitalist productionatincreasedprofits.

When capitalist economists talk about the economy, they?re referring to incentivizing business and profits. But for working people, for an economy to be ?workingproperly,?at a minimum, workers will need their wages to keep pace with rising prices. And according to any Econ101 textbook,low unemployment,or a ?tight labor market? under capitalism should ?in theory? increase the competitive advantage for workers to be in a better position to demand increased wages from employers. Despite some evidence of wages, on average, rising, most working people are seeing their earnings slip.

In Minnesota, the average non-farm privatesector jobposted earnings increases of only 2.16% from April 2021 to April 2022!It is unfortunately a very similar story all across the country; workers? wageshavenot kept up withrising consumer prices.What thismeans is a pay cut for workers in real dollars. In Minnesota, average hourly earnings declined 3.6% in the last year, after taking inflation intoaccount.

We should not have to accept it.

In this Issue...

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ATU 60th

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From the

Stripper Strike

& 5; British Rail Strike

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Tales from the

ATU Local 689

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President's

This capitalist economy is failing working people yet again. If that wasn?t enough, to add insult to injury, the capitalists themselves are better than ever while we suffer. The U.S.? biggest oil companies made record profits in these last months. In July, ExxonMobil reported an unprecedented $17.85 billion in the second quarter, nearly four timesasmuch asthesameperiod ayearago.Chevronmadearecord $11.62 billion as the UK?s Shell brokeitsownprofitrecords.Thisis

Continue

By Saralyn Romanishan #68329 Education CommitteeChair/Editor

Regarding Employment Practices:

?Some employees described the ATU asan obstacle ATU members reported feeling unsupported by the union?s practices and misalignedvalues?

Summary created by the collators of the Results Report,in Section 5: Summary of open ended questions regarding racial equity, inclusion, accessibility, and intercultural competence subheading Employment practices, Results Report, Employee Engagement and Satisfaction Survey2022*

?ATU?theybullystaff,supervisors, andmanagers?

Comment chosen by the collators to support the summary above in the ResultsReport

15,000 nurses have voted to authorize a strike across 15 Minnesota hospitals They are askingforthesamethingswehave beenaskingfor,asolutiontoshort staffing and retention issues and anannualsalaryincrease Also,like us, negotiations have been going

back and forth, counter offer to counter offer, for months without reaching a resolution And similar toMetroTransit,Allinaistellingthe public and employees one thing but not all things According to Allina, the nurses have been offered 11% over three years and ?compensation benefits? Now, who in their right minds would turn that down? Someone who knows the whole offer versus rumorsandthepublicnarrative.

Thisiswhereweallneedtodoour part Rumors are not reality, they are just rumors Narratives are created And as Mark Twain once said, ?Facts are stubborn but statistics are more pliable,? ie statistics are manipulated to support narratives by wording

choice and highlighting outlier data A lesson we learn from the collators of the survey is to not assume Facts are what matter Whenyouheararumor,insteadof spreading it, ask union leaders what is really happening at negotiations Stay in the know Be heard and fill out your contract surveysandturnthemin

The Trader Joe's on Washington Ave and workers all over the country are voting to unionize Why?BecauseUnionsareneeded Thisisnot thetimetoleave,thisis the time to join and become the forceweweremeanttobe

Only 28% (812 surveys) of Metro Transit staff filled out the engagement surveyand much less of them wereATUunion members andfront lineworkers Wehaveno

idea who wrote the comments above,Managers,Union Members, Non Rep or which divisions they work in No doubt,there isalways room for improvement and changesmightneedtobemade

Right now, workers around the country and workers at Metro Transit need the union and if you want change within the union structure,be the change Our reopened contract negotiations for the previously ratified contract arenow dead in thewater but our 3 year contract negotiations are comingup

*Results Report and Employee Engagement and Satisfaction Survey 2022 has been presented to the Metropolitan Council and is availableonMetNet

From Walking on Stage to Walking the Picket Line

By Chris Ptacek #72037

Dancersfrom theNorthHollywood strip club, the Star Garden, went from walking on the stage to walkingapicketline

Late May dancers from the Star Gardenwalkedoutaftertheunjust firing of two dancers They asked to see their contract from management Management not only refused, but told them, ?If theydidn? t feelsafetostayhome? Until they did The next night security refused to let them enter Thegrouptookthisasalockout

The reason for the upheaval started out when the ladieswould bringconcernsaboutcustomersto security They were told by management that all concerns were to go through management Securitywould not bedealingwith their issues When the time came to talk to management,they were

either busy or not available One dancer said that it was securities job to deal with problem customers otherwise what was securitytherefor

Thedancersweregoingtosecurity overthingslikecustomersviolating the rules, filming without consent, and in general unsafe work practices The new rule about not going to security made all the dancers?jobsmoreunsafe

While the Star Garden is not the first strip club to unionize, it may be the first existing one The formeronecloseddownanumber of years ago and was in San Francisco The goal of the dancers ultimately is to earn enough moneytoopentheirownclub

While out on the streets walking the picket line, the dancers have had theme nights One night was the French Revolution, another one was sexpionage They even hadanight wheretheydressedup representing the issues they had inside the Star Garden Some of those things were broken glass,

bedbugs,rats,arustynailthat was fixed with duct tape,and abroken stage with a hole in it The Star Garden has had issues with OSHA in the past over health and hygieneissues

The small group so far hasgained the attention and support from a number of other unions They are

all also getting help from the nonprofit Strippers United that addresses issues in the workplace inthatindustry

The dancers are now closer and more unified than ever It?s an admirable quality that lends itself to a strong union Every union big or small can learn from this motivatedgroup

MaryTurner, President of MNA Photo courtesyof Star Tribune

British Rail Strike; Union Victory Important for All Transit Workers Worldwide

By Adam Burch #78115

pay proposal nor a guarantee of nocompulsoryredundancies

RMT general secretary (union president)MickLynchsaid;

n England earlier this summer, 40,000 members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) union voted 9 to 1, with a 71% turnout, for strike action against the 2,500 job lossesat NetworkRail,and the further attacks on pay and conditionsacross15different train operators This was the largest strike of transport workers in 30 years With a determined lead from thenationalunionleadership and branches (what we call ?Locals? in the US), it has the potential to inspire other workers facing pay freezes, or pitiful pay rises, to organize and take action ATU 1005 members should take noticeand tryto learn thelessons from other labor struggles, especially from transit workers in the same sector, even if it is ?acrossthepond?

RMT launched three days of national strike action across the railway network Over 50,000 railwayworkerswalkedout aspart of these three days of national strike action in June, the biggest labor dispute for the transit networksince1989

The union shut down the country's railway network on June 21st, 23rd, and 25th due to the inability of the rail employers to come to a negotiated settlement with RMT

Network Rail and the train operating companies have subjected their workers to multiyear pay freezes and plan to cut thousands of jobs which will make the railways unsafe Despite intense talks with the rail bosses, RMThasnot been abletosecurea

"Railway workers have been treated appallingly and despite our best efforts in negotiations, the rail industry with the support of the government has failed to take their concerns seriously. We have a cost of living crisis, and it is unacceptable for railway workers to either lose their jobsor face another year of a pay freeze when inflation is at 11.1% and rising. Our union will now embark on a sustained campaign of industrial action which will shut down the railway system Rail companies are making at least £500 million a year in profits, whilst fat cat rail bosses have been paid millions during the Covid-19 pandemic.?

The Tory (Conservative Party) Government is planning new laws to ensure that a minimum level of staffing is maintained during a strike ? in other words banning significant proportions of those who have voted to strike from actuallygoingonstrike

UniteunionleaderSharonGraham has attacked these threats Strong words should be turned into actions, to resist any attempts at imposing or using new antiunion laws The Tories will be keen to attack the RMT, CWU and Unite, among others The entire trade union movement should rally with mass demonstrations, solidarity pickets and if necessary widespread industrial action to defend any group of workers singled out by the government The first step is for the RMT and CWU,together with Unite and any other unions taking action nationally or locally, to coordinate action for maximum effect based on discussion at the base of the unionsaswellasthetops

What isNext for RMTand British Transit Workers?

Thedisputeisabout jobs,payand conditions RMT has demanded from the 15 train operating companies and Network Rail a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies, and no detrimental changes to their working practices/terms and conditions

They have declined to meet these demands The transit agency wants more cuts to the track maintenance system that will maketherailwayslesssafe Anyof thesecost savingsfrom thesecuts will unlikely be passed onto passengers Fareswentupby39% in 2022 and yet rail staff haven? t hadapayraisefor over twoyears The money certainly isn? t going back in fare discounts, it?s being leached out in dividends for shareholders

As the third and final day of the nationalstrikebyRMTrailworkers drew to a close, it was clear that round one had been won by the workersandtheunion

Rock solid strike action has demonstrated the power of organized workers when they move into action, with the employersand government left to impotently gnash their teeth and makethreateningnoises

Despite an onslaught of propaganda in the media, a majority of the public continue to support the strikes This has been helped bythecombativestanceof the RMT leadership in the media, but also because ordinary people arewell awareof thecost of living crisis, the profit driven threat to

jobs across the economy, and the utter disaster that railprivatization has been for everyone except the profiteering bosses and shareholders So what happens next?

Theemployersasawholeand the government have no intention of backing down This is a coordinated and deliberateassault which has been planned for years in Network Rail and goes to the heart of the operating model for the Train Operating Companies, who want less staff on lower wages

The bosses and Tories can be beaten, but it will take further industrial action to make them back off This is at a time when other groups of workers are looking to enter the fray, first at RoyalMailandBritishAirways,and then in the autumn among education workers, civil servants and others, with numerous additional local disputes among privateandpublicsectorworkers

These disputesall spring from the same source: the fundamental crisis of the British and world capitalisteconomy

Escalatethestrikes

Solidarity among the RMT membership delivered solid strike action during the three days in June Thenext round of rail strikes needs to be worked out in dialogue with the base of the union,to decidethemost effective planofaction

The dates should be decided by themembership,but clearlyasthe Tory government escalates its antiunion threats, the union then needs to escalate the response with a bigger number of strike days Sections of the RMT membershipontherailwayswhich weren? t on strikethistimeneed to be brought into the dispute, whether by reballoting to hit thresholdsor on the basisof their own distinct demands and concerns

The employers are clearly fearful of this, hence the 71% pay offer

Continue to page 5

on Merseyrail (as compared with the2?3%beingoffered to national rail workers) The union should seize on this fear to widen the dispute and win more Aslef and the TSSA unions need to take strike votes among their own members over similar issues and join the dispute before they are usedagainstit

Solidarity with the rail dispute is essential TheTorythreat tolift the (ineffective) legal restrictions on employers using agency workers to do the work of strikers shows the limits of ?progressive? laws which rely on the goodwill of judgesandpoliticians

Whether or not theemployerscan break strikes by bussing in scabs dependsultimatelyonthestrength and power of the strike Any attempt to use agency scabs should be met with picket lines that prevent the scabs going in, backed up by mass solidarity demonstrations mobilized by the localtradeunionmovement.

The agency bosses seem nervous of therepercussionsof beingused as a scab army, and if they do assist the Tories, this can be used to call for protests outside their outlets demanding they withdraw the scabs and appeal to agency workers not to act as strikebreakers

The P&O dispute showed some of the dangers and the potential around this, with scab security guardsused asamob of thugsby the bosses, but also agency workers walking off the job when they found out what they were beingusedtodo

Mobilizing solidarity and public support

The accusations that rail workers are preventing nurses from

helping the sick or teachers from educating the young need to be rebutted head on with strong statements from the public sector unionsaboutwhytheysupportthe railstrikes,andacampaignamong their ownmemberstoexplain why all workersshould support therail strikes, connecting this to the similar issues faced by health workers,educationworkersandso on

Public support remains high but needs to be tapped into There needs to be large local demonstrations called by the RMT and the local trade union movement,mobilizingrailworkers, postalworkersandothers

The RMT?s policies of ?fair fares? and rail renationalization need to bebrought to thefore Theroleof a public, wellfunded and affordable rail network in addressing the worsening climate crisisshouldalsobemadeclear

Calling local protest marches with leaflets that can be given to the public on the picket lines can tap intothewaveofwidersupportand start to mobilize the wider trade unionmovement TheCWUshould backthisand add itsown demand for renationalization of Royal Mail totheslogansfordemonstrations

It?s not hard to imagine the huge support there would be for wellorganized union led marches in everytown and city,demanding ?Renationalise rail and mail! Defend jobs! All workers need a payrise!?

TheTUC(equivalentoftheAFLCIO in the US) national demonstration on June 18th showed a fraction of the potential for this with 50,000+ people attending Now the unions on strike nationally and locally need to pick up the baton of mobilizinginthestreets

Time for coordinated strike action

Coordination goes beyond demonstrations to coordinating strike votes and strike dates At a national leadership level the RMT and CWUneed to coordinatetheir strike dates to strike on at least some of the same dates for maximumeffect

At a local level, RMT activists on the rail and CWU activists on the mail should make contact and have the same discussion to take back into their unions to make sure the battles are brought together Where there are local disputes, often involving Unite members, these can be brought intothesamediscussions

Numerous unions are talking about industrial action in the autumn:theNEUinschools,PCSin the civil service, and Unison?s generalsecretary(unionpresident) has gone from attacking other unionsforbeingpreparedtostrike to boasting that her union will be ?strikeready?

Coordinating ballot timetables between all these unions,and the RMTiforwhenithastovoteagain, isoneofthemosteffectivewaysof showing to members of all the unions that the movement is seriousenough and bigenough to take on and defeat the government and the employers This in turn will help to reach the antidemocratic turnout and supportthresholdsrequiredbythe antiunionlaws

Preparationforthisstartsnow Not just the technical aspects, but directing support to the workplaces and workplace activists, involving the widest number of members in actively building support for strike votes This should be around clear demands, and direct coordination byworkplacerepsacrossthebase of the unions especially in multiunion workplaces (eg NEU and Unison in schools,Unison and Unite in hospitals, and so on) to jointlycampaign for themaximum turnout of allmembers,regardless ofwhichunionthey?rein

TheToriesarethreateningto bring

in ?minimum service? legislation, which basically means a large proportion of workerswho voteto strikearethenlegallybannedfrom going on strikeThis can be made unworkable by mass industrial action, official and also unofficial where necessary, backed up by demonstrations and protests to defend the picket lines of any union threatened with a scab?s charter

Ever more legal assaults on the unions does raise the question of workers?political organization As welcome as the support of a smattering of Labour MPs (Members of Parliament is the equivalent of members of Congressin the US)may be,there isno chanceat all that theLabour Party will be a useful tool for workers to organize through to build their struggles, demand public ownership, or enforce the repeal of all the antitrade union laws

Establishing local umbrella campaigns such as ?[Town/city name] needs a pay rise,?or local conferences of resistance or cost of living assemblies, can start creating the political space for workers and campaigns to come together, reach out to community organizationsand the massof the working class, and discuss the wider political questions of how the cost of living crisis can be overcome

On thebasisof this,stepstowards a new mass workers party of strugglecould betaken,apartyof a completely different type, not mainly focussed on elections but onewhichisan organizationby,of and for working people and through which they can get politicallyorganized

Round one of the rail strikes belongs to the railworkers, and thewiderworkingclass TheTories will come back hard while the economy continues to slide towards a deeper crisis and recession Round two will be won by solidarity, coordination and escalation to knock out the Tories and take the battle to the bosses andtheirsystemasawhole

Tales from the Curb

By Chris Ptacek #72037

430in

workingon

wasspring

still rather cold Much like everyother dayIwaswalkingto a shelter when I noticed a person walking on the other side of the street Theywereheadedthesame direction I was going This was nothingnewandhappenedalmost everyday

The person was wearing a black

ATU Local 689 Reach TA, Ending Nine-Day Strike

From ATU org

Forestville, MD After a unified and strong nineday strike, ATU Local 689 MetroAccess workers reached a tentative contract agreement with private contractor Transdev The more than 200 paratransit drivers, utility workers, dispatchers,maintenanceworkers, and road supervisors,who walked off the job on August 1 after months of intense negotiations, are expected to vote to ratify the contractinthecomingdays

jean jacket with a pair of camo BDUs Theyhad acap on that had waist long sides that turned into gloves It was a faded blue color andlookedlikeit wasold Because it wascold outsidetheperson was slightlyhunched up,tryingto keep warm,I?msure

When I got to the shelter,I began to do my job sweeping up the trash left from the prior night endeavors It was when I was inside the shelter itself with my back to the entrance that I happened to notice movement from the corner of my eye For an instant Ifelt myspineshrinkjust a little bit I?ve always hated being snuckupon

When I turned around, I saw the person that was across the street was now just a mere foot away

ATU International President John Costa joined more than 100 strikers, elected officials, disability advocates,andothersupportersat a rally outside of contract talks at the Local Union Hall and spoke directly to Transdev negotiatorsto give members the contract they deserve After the rally, the workers packed the negotiations room as both sides began to bargain

?Our members stood strong and united throughout this process They braved the heat and the company?stacticsto tryand divide us,? said Local 689 President Raymond Jackson ?This strike shows that our members are willing to lay it all on the line for justice Iwant to thanktheelected

from me In the matter of a few seconds my brain nearly short circuited from a series of events that I?m glad nobody saw firsthand

The person with the longblue hat happenedtobeawoman,andshe wasshockingtosaytheleast DidI mentionitwas4:30AM?Shehada snow white face that was painted on like a clown Around her eyes and two thin lines coming down from them was a light blue color Her eyeswerecontact colored and iceblue

It was about that moment that I was almost sure my chest was going to collapse in on itself The poorwomanmust?veseenmyeyes nearly bugging out of my head She turned and smiled when she was a foot or less away from me

literally If my poor brain wasn? t short circuiting before age certainly was about to now This woman?seye teeth were fangs I?m not talking about your slightly sharpened teeth These were straight up vampire;bite the neck, bloodsucker things Like any good and trained horror junky I squeaked out ?holy?! That might havebeenthethingthatsavedme, you never know, but it's my story soIsayit wasThankfullyshedidn? t stop, and I made it out without losinganyblood Ithought myjob wasdangerousbefore,and still do butIneverthoughtIwouldhaveto deal with a vampiric mime from hell I did see her later in the day, but can? t explain how shewasable to hop on a bus in full daylight I only hope that the driver made it outaswellasIdid

officials, all our allies, and our International for coming out and standingwithus?

The new threeyear contract with Transdev includes substantial wage increases and improved benefits, including better sick leave, a more secure retirement plan, additional holidays, and other improvements The workers successfully fought off the company's proposal to offer members less than what their counterparts in Baltimore make and their refusal to enter into a threeyearagreement

?Wemust still addresstheissueof privatization of our most vital services like paratransit,? Jackson continued ?WMATA needs to

Execut ive Board

reconsider its relationship with private contractors It?s not working, and transit workers and ridersarebeingleftbehind?

Last year,Local689MVCallCenter workers went on a oneday strike and were successful in winning a fair contract that helped improve theirwages,benefits,andrightson the job Three weeks ago, Local 689 members at the MetroAccess HubbardRoadfacilityalsovotedto strike, if necessary, to win a fair contract The Local believes that privatization is a misguided approach to public transit, especially for vital services like MetroAccess

Sept / Oct ATU 1005 Calendar

Mem

Meet

Tuesday Sept 27, 10am & 7pm

Minneapolis United Labor Centre 312 Central Ave SE

Sept

Wednesday Sept 28, 7:30pm

Eagles Club Rochester 917 15th Ave SE

Tuesday Oct 25, 10am & 7pm

Minneapolis United Labor Centre 312 Central Ave SE

Oct

Wednesday Oct 26, 7:30pm

Eagles Club Rochester 917 15th Ave SE

NOTE:

Nort hside

Tuesday of each month

8:00am

Nat's

TSSC

ATU

ATU Local 1005 Black

Thursday, Sept 15 Thursday, Oct 20 7pm Virtual (via Zoom)

Office for Details

ATU Local 1005

ion

Tuesday, Sept 20 Tuesday, Oct 18 11:30am 1pm United Labor Centre Room TBD

ATU Local 1005 Wom en?s+

Not currently

contact Union Office for more details)

ATU 1005 Sum m er Picnic Sunday, August 28

Long Lake Park 1500 Old Hwy 8 New Brighton 11 am to 3 PM

t

Thurs Sept 15 -

Thurs Sept 20-

10:30am 11:30am

11:30am

Bat hroom

Wednesday

m it t

3 months)

Wed Sept 14 2pm 3pm

FTH MTPD Rm 316 or on Webex

Conference

Under "Weingarten Rights",ifanemployeehasa reasonablebelief thatdisciplineorother adverseconsequencemayresultfromwhatissaid,he/shecansaysomethinglikethis:

"If this discussion could in any way lead to my being disciplined or terminated, or affect my personal working conditions, I respectfully request that my union representative, officer or steward be present at this meeting Without representation present, then I choose not to participate in this discussion

in addition to the combined $100 billion they made in profits in the firstquarter!

Despite workers? wages very clearlynotkeepingpacewithrising inflation, and corporate profits soaring well above the rate of inflation, that doesn? t stop the capitalist economists demanding that workers must continue to bear the brunt of their crises, like always

Matt Schoeppner, senior economist at Minneapolis based US Bank, said that it?s actually a good thing that workers?wages don? t keep up with inflation He said,?That?sthe one thing I would argue needs to happen [workers continuing to make less] in order toreduceallofthisexcessdemand that?s been built up through the pastcoupleofyears?

These capitalist economistsare so conditioned to blame wages for inflation that even the idea of increased wages is enough for them to obsess over, despite wages actually not keeping up, therefore obviously not being the reasonfortheinflation

In fact, the only ?solution? that these economists can come up with is to make things worse Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell explained that Fed policyis aimingto?get wagesdown?Thisis a large part of why the Fed is

raising interest rates, it wants working people to bear the brunt of inflation while protecting the profitsofbigbusiness

Minnesota Transit Workers for COLA+1

Thankfully, workers organized in unionshaven? t always bought into this irrational capitalist logic The last timeinflation wasasbad asit isnow wasduringtheearly1980s At that timeunionswere relatively stronger than we are now Organized workers demanded to have ?COLA? instituted into our contracts COLAstandsfor?Cost of Living Adjustment? That means whatever inflation is at the time, workers automatically get that percent increase, then any negotiated raiseswould be on top of that Therefore, guaranteeing that workersactuallyget araisein realdollars

Thelasttimeourunion ATULocal 1005 hadthatinourcontract was 1984 It wasamistaketonegotiate COLA away then, but now we are determined to win it back in our contractin2023!

During July?s ATU 1005 General Membership Meeting, the Executive Board introduced a resolutiontoour membershipthat committed ATU 1005 to fight for COLA +1 during our next contract campaign The ?+1? means whatever inflation is plus 1%, guaranteeing an actual raise Workers using this formula as a demand will mean actual real

In1970therewasagiantstrikewaveacrosstheUS Thisincluded wildcatstrikesamong200,000postalworkers Thepostalworkerswon therighttobargain,COLA,andtheAPWUwasfoundedayearlater

gains for working people everywhere!Theresolution passed unanimously!

NotonlydoesATULocal1005want to win this demand for our next upcomingcontract,but wewant to encourage all ATU Locals to fight for this same COLA +1 demand! When workers everywhere can organize around a similar set of demands, that strengthens workers everywhere in their specific struggles We want all workers organized and unorganized to feel confident thattheytoocanfightandstruggle for this demand alongside Minnesota transit workers and membersofATULocal1005

Like the eight hour day and ?15 Now,?we want to make COLA +1 the sharpest demand in our upcoming labor struggles The resolution also committed theATU 1005 delegation to pass a similar COLA +1 resolution at the upcoming ATU International Convention in September We want ATU and all workers everywhere to fight with us for COLA +1, union or nonunion And we at ATU 1005 will assist in any way we can to broaden the struggle to win COLA +1, not only for us, but for all the workers we can!Solidarity!