Transport Workers Union

Transit Briefs: SEPTA, STV, NYMTA, Amtrak/USRC

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) system-wide ridership decreases 1% in November. Also, STV’s Quantico Station Improvement Project wins an American Council of Engineering Companies of Virginia (ACEC Virginia) Grand Award; Governor Kathy Hochul vetoes a bill that would require two-person crews on the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) subway trains; and Amtrak and Union Station Redevelopment Corporation (USRC) leaders approve an agreement to restore federal control of the facility.

  • News

Conrail TWU Members Ratify New Contract

Conrail Transport Workers Union (TWU) members in Detroit, Philadelphia, and New Jersey, voted “overwhelmingly” to ratify a new five-year contract that includes a 17.5% wage increase, with journeymen carmen making more than $100,000 a year by contract’s end.

Pittsburgh Regional Transit has taken the first step to replace its fleet of 81 light rail vehicles manufactured by Siemens and CAF. (Enlightenedment at English Wikipedia)

Transit Briefs: PRT, NJT, TransLink, WMATA

Pittsburgh (Pa.) Regional Transit (PRT) is seeking a federal grant to purchase new light rail vehicles. Also, train operators and maintenance workers for New Jersey Transit’s (NJT) Hudson-Bergen Light Rail ratify a new contract; TransLink’s first real estate development in metro Vancouver is greenlighted; and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) seeks a developer for a project at the North Bethesda Metrorail Station.

Transit Briefs: BART, OCTA, NJ Transit, NYMTA

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) launches Phase II of its Not One More Girl initiative. Also, the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) invites high school students to apply for its Teen Council; NJ Transit begins website ticketing pilot program for Atlantic City Rail Line (ACRL); and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) reaches a tentative agreement with Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100.

Commentary

TWU’s “crappy boxed lunch,” a PTC paper tiger—and silence

I don’t need to write much about how the Transport Worker’s Union looks upon Amtrak President and CEO Richard Anderson’s purported quest to eliminate dining car service and dismantle the long-distance train national network. The poster below says it all. It’s funny, to be sure, but for thousands of Amtrak customers, the meaning behind it is sad and dehumanizing.

Timing of Philly transit strike questioned

As of 12:01 a.m. Nov. 1, one week before Election Day, when thousands of Philadelphia inner-city residents would be using the city’s transit system to get to the polls, 4,738 TWU (Transport Workers Union) Local 234 members walked off the job following expiration of the union’s contract with SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority).