2004 February

Feb

ruar

y 20

04Mpls./

St.Paul

The Negotiating Committees met all day onJanuary 30, 2004, with the Metro Transit and theATU attorneys, along with Mediator Alan Olsen.

On Thursday, January 22, a comprehensivepackage was given to us that had less money init than the Final Offer that the members voteddown by 96%.

A Restructured Final Offer dated1/30/2004 was presented to us today. It will bebrought to the membership for a vote onSunday February 15, 2004 at the MinneapolisConvention Center, 1301 Second Ave. Southfrom 11:00 am - 4:00 pm. Copies of the offerwill be available at 10:00 am. The offer willbe presented at 11:00 am; voting will takeplace from adjournment to 4:00 pm.

At this same meeting, a strike vote will betaken to give the Executive Board the author-ization to call a strike in the event the con-tract offer is voted down and a strike isdeemed necessary.

Voting will also take place on Monday,February 16, 2004 at the Union Office, 312Central Ave., Room 438, from 9:00 am to 5:00pm.

This is a very important meeting; pleasemake every effort to attend.

CONTRACT UPDATE 1-30-04

FebruaryCalendar

17 EducationCommittee

24 ExecutiveBoard

24 Union MeetingMpls.

Local 1005OfficersPresident/BusinessAgent

Ron LloydVice-President

MichelleSommersRecording Secretary &Asst. Business Agent

Kellie MillerFinancial SecretaryTreasurer

Jerry Ewald

Union Office Phone612-379-2914e-mail:[email protected]:www.atu1005.com

THE

PRESIDENT’SCORNER

ATU Local 1005President–Business Agent

Ron Lloyd

Here in Minnesota, we're all familiar with four seasons: win-ter, spring, summer and fall. Don't forget the fifth one, theLegislative season. This year it begins on February 2. I'll

be at the Capitol almost full-time, talking to different legislators,trying to get them to support a multi-modal transit funding pack-age. We have needed a dedicated transit fund for some time andwe still need that dedicated funding desperately.

We do have a lot of support at the Capitol; however, the politicalclimate is not good. The Republican-dominated House of Representatives makes it extreme-ly difficult to successfully achieve our goals.

We have to change this, and we need every Local 1005 member todo his or her part. The caucuses begin in March. I urge all of youto attend your precinct caucus. Be part of the candidate selectionprocess and make sure transit's needs are heard.

According to the AFL-CIO, forty percent of all public employeeswho voted in the last election voted Republican. Those electedRepublicans control the House and the Governor's office, andthey're the biggest obstacle to securing the funding that we need.Remember their promises to voters - no new taxes! Unfortunately,when you have no new tax source at the state level, it just shifts theburden to local governments.

If you want more, and dedicated, funding to protect your jobs andthe service we provide, get involved. Get to your precinct caucus.Make calls to the elected officials, even / especially to Republicans.Let them know your concerns, let them know you vote.

Let's hope we have a fruitful fifth season.

THE AMALGAMATEDTRANSIT UNIONOUR STORY…OUR HISTORY

By Scott Lindquist

Education Comittee

RON LLOYD

ATU 1005VICE PRESIDENT

ADVISOR

CHAIR

SHEILA MILLER

HEYWOOD OFFICE

VICE CHAIR

DEL HOPPE

SNELLING

RECORDER

STEVE BABCOCK

AT LARGE

JUAN PARKER

HEYWOOD

SCOTT LINDQUIST

RUTER

NONA WOOD

RUTER

TOM CAMPBELL

OVERHAUL BASE

ABRAM ISAACS

SNELLING

Education Committee

MICHELLE SOMMERSATU 1005VICE PRESIDENTADVISOR

CHAIRSHEILA MILLERHEYWOOD OFFICE

VICE CHAIRTOM CAMPBELLOVERHAUL BASE

RECORDERLINDA KAUPEAST METRO

LAYOUTSTEPHEN BABCOCKOVERHAUL BASE

SOUTHLIZ GOLDBERG

RUTERSCOTT LINDQUISTNONA WOOD

NICOLLETJOHN SUTTLESSCOTT STONE

EAST METROK.H. RICE

EDITORIAL BOARDDELROY SCHAFERDAN ABRAMOWICZKEN DOLNEYSHEILA MILLER

Fifty years after we burned the last streetcar of one of the finest com-muter rail systems in the nation, we're trying to start all over again. Issomeone pulling our leg!

By Craig Cox

You can trace the stupidity of Light Rail Transit way back to agloomy rail yard in 1954, where on a rainy June day a mannamed Fred Ossanna, hiding out under a damp fedora, supervised

the burning of the last Minneapolis Streetcar.

The Twin City Rapid Transit Company, which Ossanna headed, onceoperated nearly 530 miles of electric streetcar track in the metropolitanarea. Lines tied Minneapolis and St. Paul together. And ran as far west asMinnetonka, east to Stillwater, north to White Bear Lake, and connectedsuburbs as far flung as St. Louis Park and Columbia Heights. It was,according to some observers, the best transit system in America. Butbetween 1949 and 1954, Ossanna and his crew of progressive-mindedbean counters successfully transformed it into a bus line.

And here we are, nearly a half-century later, starting all over-but withnone of the wild frontier optimism that allowed the system to be built inthe first place.

Back in 1867, when Minneapolis businessman (and the city's first mayor)Dorilus Morrison began laying tracks for a horsecar line on Second Streetfrom Hennepin to Cedar, the city was teeming with enterprising business-men eager to turn the bustling river town into a city of some prominence.Colonel William King soon joined the fray, slapping a horsecar line onThird Street between Fourth and Second Avenues. A year later, the twomen combined forces with other local businessmen to create the

Continued on Page 9

Just a few months until Light Rail start-up; here's a little history lesson on TwinCities' streetcars. The following is the first installment of an article written byCraig Cox, the executive editor of Utne magazine and the editor of theMinneapolis Observer. (Research assistance by Nora and Martin Cox.)

Get Rail!

Part One: Why, what, where and how December 2003.Part Two: Historically Speaking this issue.

Part Three: The Inside World of Light Rail next month.BY LIZBETH GOLDBERG

HIAWATHA LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT

The history of tramways andthe evolution of light railcan be traced back to the

1800's when rail was first used toease the passage of horse drawnwagons in mines and quarries. Thefirst tramway in a city was theHarlem line in New York in 1832.The world's second horse drawntramway began in New Orleans in1835 and is still in use for electriccars.

American promoters introducedthe tramway to Europe: Paris in1853, Birkenhead, England in1860, London in 1861, andCopenhagen in 1863. The con-struction of horse tramwayspeaked in the 1870's as promotersbegan to search for methods ofmechanical traction. Due to thelimitations of animal power,mechanical traction was explored,using steam, compressed air, gas,and petrol power. Cable tramwayswere briefly successful, but once

electric traction became possibletramways largely disappeared.San Francisco's famous cable carsare a rare exception.

The first electric vehicles werebattery powered, until the devel-opment of a practicable dynamoby Werner von Siemens in Berlinin 1879, which generated power ata fixed point and supplied it to aline by conductive rail or overheadwire. Siemens & Halske openedthe first electric tramway for pub-lic service in Berlin in 1881, feed-ing 180 volts through runningrails.

It soon became obvious that elec-trified rails were unsuitable forsafety reasons in a open streetenvironment. Overhead wire wasfirst used in Ireland in 1885.Underground conduit was anotheralternative, often preferred aes-thetically because poles and over-head were not required. TheBlackpool Tramway opened with

conduit operation in 1885, beganoperating an overhead system in1899, and is Britain's oldest streettramway still operating. The over-head wire with trolley pole collec-tion was recognized as the mostpractical.

The first city tramway network inAmerica was installed in 1887 inRichmond, Virginia. By 1900almost all U.S. horse tramwayshad been converted to electrictraction, with European cities notfar behind. Siemens developed thebow collector as an alternative tothe trolley pole; this lead in turn tothe pantograph which is mostcommon today. By the end of thecentury, electric tramways hadappeared around the world, inJapan, Thailand and Australia.Tramways in Britain or with

British heritage usually used adouble-deck tram to maximizecapacity. In continental Europe asingle deck tram towing a trailer

The History and Evolution of Light RailLight Rail is generally defined as an electric railway system with the ability to operate single or multiple con-sists (train cars) along an exclusive right-of -way and powered by overhead electrical wires.

Simply stated: Light Rail = Trolley = Streetcar = Tram = Tramway = Light Rail

was more common, whileAmerican systems soon went tolarger trams mounted on twobogies, one of several wheels orrollers inside the tread of a tractoror tank.

Almost every city in the worldoperated a system of tramways forthe first 25 years of the 20th cen-tury. The tramway provided cheapand reliable transportation for themasses, facilitating economicdevelopment and the growth of thesuburbs. At the same time, techni-cal innovations in electrical andmechanical engineering allowedlarger and more powerful cars.

In the 1920's, with the rapidlyincreasing cost of materials andlabor, initial investments beganwearing out. Many systems' prof-its eroded, with insufficient fundsto ensure timely replacement of

worn out assets. Mass productionof the motorcar brought the reli-able motorbus. It was cheaper tointroduce bus feeders than extend

fixed tramways; the decline oftramways had begun.

In 1929 the presidents of severallarge 'street railway companiesconvened a national conference toaddress the future of their industry.The Presidents ConferenceCommittee (PCC) discussed whatthey could do to stop the loss ofpassengers to both private vehiclesand public buses. Their secondgoal was to design a modern, com-fortable, fast-accelerating trolleythat could be used as a standardstreetcar that could compete withbuses and autos. The result wasthe PCC car; nearly 5,000 of thesecars were built from the mid1930's to the early 1950's. ThePCC car, one of best designed andmost reliable trolleys ever built,staved off the closure of manysystems, and saved others to formthe basis of the tramway revival ofthe modern era. Some still operatetoday and have become an iconfor those interested in heritagetramways as a contribution tourban regeneration.

The 1960s was a bad time for pub-lic transportation in many parts ofthe world. Industry and trans-portation planners believed thatthe automobile would become thecommon form of transport formost people, with buses for thosewho could not afford cars. Theywere confident that cities couldadapt to the increased road traffic.

A handful of tramway systemssurvived in North American cities,though many believed that busreplacement was just a matter oftime. In many locations around theworld tramway modernization hadcome to a stop. Only northern andEastern Europe continued to investin tramways; Spain, France andItaly followed the trend of aban-donment common in Britain andthe USA. West Germany becamethe center of world tramwaydevelopment, progressing to largerarticulated trams, eventually oper-ated by one person; even the fareswere collected off the car throughseason ticket sales or ticketmachines at stops. Frequentinspection ensured the viability ofthe honor fare system.

The Europeanized PCC car attract-ed customers by offering high per-formance and short headways. Thecommunist regimes of EasternEurope allowed little privatemotoring, so high capacity publictransport was a necessity; thetramway remained the dominantmode for city transit. The SovietUnion became the world's largesttramway operator, with Leningradhaving the world's largest tramwaysystem. CKD Tatra of Prague,Czechoslovakia became theworld's most prolific tramcar man-ufacturer, becoming the supplierfor most of the systems in Eastern

Beginning in the 1870's as separate companies, the Minneapolis Street Railwayand the St. Paul City Railway operated streetcars powered by horses. The linesran from the two downtown business districts about three miles. Although slow,the horse cars were an improvement over muddy roads after a rain.

Europe and the Soviet Union, pro-ducing 1,000 trams per year.

By the end of the decade, westernplanners began to recognize thedisadvantages of wholesale motor-ization and marginalization ofpublic transportation. Traffic con-gestion in major cities was reach-ing chaotic proportions at peaktimes and the peak times werespreading. New super highways tocope with the demands of privatemotoring resulted in wholeswathes of city landscapes demol-ished or divided, bringing eco-nomic and social decline. ManyNorth American cities saw a rapiddecline in their city centers as newsuburban malls sprang up to servepopulations that had migratedfrom high to low-density housingareas. These malls focused almostentirely on travel by car. Concernsabout environmental pollutionbegan to surface. Planners andpoliticians looked at flourishingcities in continental Europe andrealized the importance of effec-tive public transport such as thatprovided by reserved tracktramways.

Light rail was first created inmainland Europe, as streettramways were upgraded with newrolling stock and segregated align-ments. The concept owes much tothe planning which took place inGothenburg, Sweden, where overa period of 15 years an ordinarycity street tramway was extendedthrough new and established sub-urbs on high-speed reserved trackand all rolling stock was replacedby a fleet of high-performancetrams. Effective traffic restrictionswere introduced to give priority totrams and every encouragement touse public transportation. All thiswas achieved without the expense

of digging subways, keeping pub-lic transport on the surface as avisible and accessible system.

Many other cities have chosen tofollow a similar path over the last20 years. Other cities in Belgium,Germany and Austria determinedthat the best way of improving theaverage speed of public transportin city streets was to provide asegregated path on the surface orin subway. The upgraded systemshave given rise to new terminolo-gy to differentiate them from ordi-nary tramways. Supertram, lightrail, light metro, Sneltram (expresstram) and Stadtbahn (city rail) arejust some of the names used, whileseveral German cities market theirupgraded subway tramways in thesame way as underground metrosby using the term U-Bahn (under-ground).

The subway solution proved popu-lar in the 1970s and 1980s inEurope because it permitted levelboarding of high-floor cars fromplatforms in the city suburbs. Onsurface lines in the suburbs therewas often room to install highboarding platforms, so the systemsgradually became fully-accessiblefor passengers in wheel-chairs, so boarding andalighting was speeded upfor all passengers. In the1990s development ofnew technology to pro-vide low-floor trams withstep-free entrances only13.77 inches above raillevel has permitted sur-face systems to achievethe same effect by build-ing up curbs at each stopto a matching height.

The revival of the street-car or tram in North

America (usually in the guise oflight rail) has been just as remark-able as in Europe. The Americanslove affair with the automobilemay not be over, but they have atleast realized that it is not possibleto rebuild major cities to accom-modate unrestrained trafficgrowth, either in social or environ-mental terms. Pressures for betterpublic transport as an alternativeto the private car are very strongin California, where the west-coastethos and the realities of pollutionfrom motor vehicles make it par-ticularly suitable for political ini-tiatives to this end.

In the 1970s American urban plan-ners began to look to Europe forideas on how to save their citiesfrom sprawl and economicdecline. With the public ownershipof transit companies, the introduc-tion of better public transportcould be achieved using a mix ofcity, state and national funding. Atthe same time, with the end of theVietnam War, defense contractorswere looking for alternative mar-kets, and saw transportation as agrowth area.

Edmonton, Canada led the way

Electric trams at Gardiners Corner, Aldgate12 July 1912 Anon

with an alternative approach ofadapting European technology toAmerican conditions. A new lightrail line, built partly on underusedrail alignment, and partly in citysubway, and operated it from 1978with imported trams fromSiemens-Duewag in Germany wasan immediate success. San Diego,CA and Calgary, Canada followedsuit three years later. Pedestrianand transit precincts were createdin the city centers in each of thesecases, rather than dig expensivesubways, since guided pollution-free vehicles can operate quitesuccessfully in a pedestrian envi-ronment. The success in attractingmotorists back to public transit ledto a boom in the development andconstruction of light rail systems,which continues across the coun-try.

The example of Los Angeles isparticularly significant; this city,which threw away its' tram andinterurban system in the 1960s,determining it could live andmove with the automobile. Thepall of pollution, hanging overurban sprawl, proved differently.Two new light rail lines and anunderground metro have been

opened in LA, with a third lightrail line under construction.

Light rail is a flexible transit modethat falls between the bus andmetro or urban railway, and can beused like either of them as well. Incomparison with a system ofbuses on city streets, LRT is moreexpensive to construct, but may becheaper to operate for a givencapacity, will have lower whole-life costs, a higher commercialspeed, reduce pollution, and maybe far more successful in attract-ing motorists to public transit. Incomparison with a metro or urbanrailway, light rail will be cheaperto build and operate, but operate ata lower commercial speed.However it will maintain a visiblepresence of surface public transit,offer better penetration of urbanareas, enjoy better security, andgenerate less noise.

Light rail can cater economicallyand effectively for passengerflows between 2,000 and 20,000passengers per hour, common incities with populations between200,000 and one million. LRTusually involves steel wheel vehi-cles operating on steel rails and

Example of Subway cutting through buildings above ground level

AT THE OFFICEHeywoodContact Sheila Miller

Like all ATU members at MetroTransit, office and clerical staffare anxiously awaiting a resolu-tion to contract negotiations.

Meanwhile, congratulations andgood luck to two Transit Storeclerks who retired, KarenNielsen, almost 24 years, andCarole Schumacher, over 19years.

AT THE GARAGELRT

Contact Robert Boyle

Only eleven weeks left untilstart of rail service, and itscrunch time. We still only ownlrv 101 so its now out 24-7 try-ing to get everyone trained.

The first 15 ATU operators havefinished classroom and startedoperating this week. They eachneed 120 hours before they cantest for their license.

Out of the 15 Electro mechani-cal technicians only 4 have the24 hours of yard operationneeded for there license, and wesoon should have seven helperswho also need 24 hours.

We still only have eight Lrvs atthe O&M facility, and we need aminimum of 14 to operate theservice to Fort Snelling.

There are still bugs in the sig-naling system and the LRVS tobe worked out so Bombardierand MNTC are feeling thecrunch also. We've got a greatcrew, but the clock keeps tick-ing.Rick Matczynski, LRT janitor,also retired after 32 years.

AT THE GARAGENicollet

Theresa Collins, #1378Contact Scott Stone, #6852

The Nicollet Holiday Party wasenjoyed by many on December17; thanks to those who donatedfood for the potluck. Specialthanks go to Dusty Jerzak, #939,who donated the chest he builtfor the raffle; AssistantManager Mary Jo Carrier wasthe lucky winner.

Harold Broberg, driver #1498,retired in January, after 33years of service. Good luck, sil-ver fox! Ida Chandrika, #73,retired in November. We need avolunteer to wear Ida's flowersin their hair. Axsel Bjorklund,#6234, retired this month. Bestwishes to all.

Kathleen Toner, driver #274,was honored as OctoberEmployee of the Month.

Shop Manager Silas Sharp musthave the most seniority; he justcelebrated 40 years of service.

When spring-cleaning, keep theNicollet Garage Sale in mind.We've decided to make it anannual event.

Check out the fitness room - wenow have a new stair climberand a sparring machine.

collecting electrical power froman overhead wire. Diesel light railis a concept that has been tried toa limited extent, and may have arole in the future for low-coststarter lines. The steel rails can begrooved so they can lay flush witha street surface, or ballasted likenormal railway track, making LRTthe only system which can operateon both city streets and jointlywith conventional rail services.LRT offers the possibility thatregional rail services can beextended through to the city centervia transfer points from rail tostreet track. This concept hasbeen introduced with enormoussuccess in Karlsruhe, Germany,using dual voltage light rail vehi-cles, and is now being built else-where. Light rail demonstrates its flexibil-ity in the ability to operate in awide range of built environments.It can act as a tramway in thestreet, though if its advantagesover the bus are to be maximized,unsegregated street track shouldbe kept to the minimum needed topass particular pinch points.

Within the street environment itcan be segregated by white lines,low curbs, and side or centralreservation. Tracks can be laid intarmac, mass concrete, ballast orgrass according to operational andenvironmental needs. Light railcan be built on former railway for-mations, or share track with rail-ways, both little used freight linesand those with passenger service.Technical progress means thatappropriate safety arrangementscan be put into place for mixedservice, despite the differing buff-ing loads of light rail and heavyrail.

Milestone: Late December con-firmed the final selection andtransfer of 15 Local 1005 busoperators to the light rail divisionand who are now currently under-going the intensive trainingprocess for rail operator.

Sources: The History of Tramwaysand Evolution of Light Rail, MichaelTaplinLightrail.com: North American LightRail Systems

Immortalized in 1947 by the Tennessee Williams play "A StreetcarNamed Desire" the 'Desire Line' began operating in 1920, by NewOrleans Railway and Light Co. In May 1948, it was replaced by a busline, also named Desire.

HighGround radio show on Weekdays from 1-3 pm onAM 1330. They are a laborshow that talks about what'shappening in our state, nation-al and even international issuesthat affect us here inMinnesota. Check it out

AT THE GARAGEHeywoodContact Sheila Miller

Black History Celebration!The dream lives on ...

Come join in the celebration onFriday, Feb. 20, 11:30 am - 3pm, in the driver's room! Sharea favorite dish or give a dona-tion.

James Cushenberry, driver#2167, will MC; featured speak-ers will include: Brent Buckner,President of the NAACP/MN,and Deidre Brown, Director,Rail Transportation

Retirements

Donald Holmstrom #9004, 14yearsEnola Jackmon #9193, 12 yearsHelen Jenkins #183, 25 yearsDon Lusty #674, 27 yearsTasissa Moti #414, 25 yearsFred Newhouse #438, 28 yearsDuane Ortlep #1240, 34 yearsRalph Smoot ##8883, 15 yearsTrevor Stevens #744, 28 years

Minneapolis Street Railway, with the intention of operating the two lines.

In 1875, the Minneapolis City Council granted the company a 50-yearfranchise to operate the lines, but with the stipulation that they had to beup and running in four months. Morrison and King turned to a locallawyer and rising real estate mogul named Thomas Lowry to put thefinancing together, and the first horsecar line finally opened for serviceon September 2, 1875 linking the downtown train depot with theUniversity of Minnesota campus.

In 1889, they began investigating the feasibility of reconstructing the sys-tem to use electric streetcars. Electrification of the lines meant completereconstruction of the network; those who ponied up for the earlier horse-car lines and the ill-fated infatuation with cablecars lost their entireinvestment.

As a concession to New York bankers, from whom Lowry eventuallysecured the financing for the new electric streetcar lines, the St. Paul andMinneapolis railways were merged in 1890 to create the Twin City RapidTransit Compamy. Some $6 million later (3.5 million over budget-a verymodern 116 percent cost overrun), TCRT had doubled the number ofmiles served by the new electric system, and an interurban line onUniversity Avenue connected the two downtowns.

For the next 40 years, Lowry and TCRT ruled the local transit scene. Hebought up the three competing bus lines as well as the Yellow CabCompany, and by 1926 essentially controlled all public transportation inthe Twin Cities. At its peak in 1931, TCRT operated 1,021 streetcars onnearly 530 miles of track in the metropolitan area. It was said that no res-ident of Minneapolis lived more than 400 yards from a streetcar stop.

Our History Continued From Page 3

CRYPTOS by PAT KELEHANEach letter stands for another. If you think X=O, for example, it would equal Othroughout the puzzle.Clue: M=E

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YZM GH BHHI OMYFTPA THRMIPSM. UM

IPLBMY GH UFL DPGUMI; "CUX YFY XHZI

THOBPKX FOBHLM GUPG APLG BIHBHLPA, YPYYX"?

GUMK, AFEM GUM THKGIPTG, UM MVBFIMY. (Answer on page 23)

The anti-FTAA flyers that Ihung up in my dorm a fewweeks ago really inspired

someone. This person also want-ed to enlighten others about oursystem, and so he (or she) wrote anice little note on the flyer thatexplained the "beauty" of capital-ism-that for someone to succeed,someone else must fail.

This comes a long way fromAdam Smith's tenet that what isgood for the individual (i.e. therich capitalist) is good for theentire society, or so it wouldseem. But this person was notagreeing with the anti-FTAA sen-timent; rather, this "beauty" ofcapitalism was an implied justifi-cation of the deplorable effectsthat free trade agreements canhave. In the words of someone

else's helpful appendage on one ofthe other flyers, the message was"Go Capitalism!" and there wasno question about it.

I wasn't upset that my flyers weredefaced in this manner. Instead, Iwas pleased to see messages writ-ten by multiple people on multipleposters--I was pleased to see thembecause they were typical of thefree trade debate. When presentedwith hard facts about the perils ofagreements such as NAFTA andthe FTAA, my opposition offereda hard-hitting rebuttal: 'Go capital-ism! Who cares about harm done,someone succeeds!'

The scary thing is that their senti-ment, not mine, is the one domi-nating the world.

FOR THE LOVE OF CORPORATIONS:A LOOK AT THE FREE TRADE AREA OF THE

AMERICASBy Kyle Schafer

Kyle Schafer is a first-year student at Northwestern University inEvanston, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Kyle is also the son of DelroySchafer, Nicollet Maintenance E-Board member. Kyle's article appearedin THE PROTEST, an independent student newspaper, in December.Coincidentally Delroy authored 'Local 1005 Protests in Miami' highlight-ing his and Jerry Ewald's participation at the Miami rally protesting theFree Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA); Dad's article was printed inThe 1005 Line in the December issue.

Father and son were unaware of each other's journalism debut.Kyle's article demonstrates good writing, thoughtful objections to U. S.government imperialism and perhaps most importantly, interest in labor,world events and the questioning of authority, no doubt passed on andfostered by a union father's activism and involvement. The article isreprinted with Kyle's permission and under: "The Protest policyrenounces its rights under copyright law and denounces the existence ofpatents, copyrights, and all forms of intellectual property monopoly".

AT THE GARAGERuter

Contact Scott Lundquist

Black History Pot Luck LunchWhen: Thursday Feb 12th 10:00AM to 2:30 PM. Come join usfor this special occasion of food,fun and information.Bring something to share andeat or pay $3.50 per person.

PRIVATIZATIONThe talk around the garage lastweek was the article in the StarTribune by David Peterson enti-tled "Met Council urged toexplore new initiatives"(Thursday, Jan. 22). It startswith: "Chairman Peter Bellshared a transit idea, along withother proposals by the Pawlentyadministration". Well, the ideacomes in the fourth paragraph,"Privatizing parts of theregion's transit or sewer servic-es". Some ideas just never seemto go away.

RETIREMENTSCongratulations and best wishesto the following recent retirees:Operators:Nancy Geer, #228, with 30 yearsservice, the most-senior womanoperator.Byron Jasperson, #1353, 31yearsDavid Newman, #225, 30 years Larry Whitfield, #79, 25 years*Bennie Etienne, #101 retired in1998, 28 years; rehired in 2000 -PT #7030, 3 yearsMaintenance:Gale Hess, 29 yearsDennis Hill, 35 years

Our apologies if anyone wasmissed.

AT THE GARAGEEast Metro

Contact Kim Rice

A measure of comfort & safetyhas been added to our driver-mechanic day room with theinstallation of sunscreen to thegreenhouse walls.

This month we congratulate sev-eral drivers who have decided toretire, including:Loren Stubbins, #1102, 34 years David Stubbins, #2719, 28 years Tarrel Borne, #367, 18 yearsDavid Ebert, #1327, 17 yearsJames Bot, #9139, 12 years

We will also miss Venita Vance,#3437, Driver/Relief Instructor.After 13 years at Metro Transit,Venita is moving to Texas. Herdistinctive voice and quick witwill not be easily forgotten.

Maitenance Personel retiring: Robert Cessna, 12 yearsSteven Dorn, 13 years

We are losing Safety SpecialistTom Herbeck to South Garage.Dian Parent will be joining theEast Metro Team.

Our driver complement is 315at this time, including 58 part-time weekday and eight part-time weekend drivers. Elevendrivers are in full-time training;in mid-January four of themturned in.

Don't forget to let us know yourconcerns, insights or otherinformation you wish to share.Contact K.H. Rice, #5975, oryour E-board reps Ken Dolneyor Gary Rosenberger.

The Free Trade Area of theAmericas is an agreement that hasbeen in the works since 1994 andis set to be completed in 2005. Itis a powerful expansion ofNAFTA (North American FreeTrade Agreement) seeking toestablish a regional free trade areaspanning the entire western hemi-sphere--minus Cuba, of course.According to its proponents,everyone involved wins. Not sur-prisingly, this view disregards theways in which so many peopleinvolved lose.

Free trade agreements, designedto benefit corporate interests, cre-ate a race to the bottom, meaninga profit-driven push to the lowestworking standards and the mostlenient environmental laws.NAFTA has already shown ushow detrimental the free trademodel can be in these areas.

Since NAFTA was implemented,an estimated 766,000 U.S. jobshave disappeared as companieshave moved to Mexico, and astudy by Cornell University esti-mates that two out of three com-panies faced with the threat ofunionization responded with athreat to move jobs abroad, driv-ing down wages even if the threatto move is never realized.

This movement of work hasn'thelped Mexico, either. About amillion more workers earn belowthe minimum wage of $3.40 thandid before NAFTA.

Manufacturing wages havedropped. Foreign competitioncaused 23,000 small businesses toshut down. Small farmers arebeing destroyed by big agribusi-ness and at least half a millionfarmers have lost their land.

Mexico is also losing jobs(280,000 in the past two years)because companies there are mov-ing to other countries with evenlower standards. The FTAAwould expand these trends to therest of the hemisphere, and no oneseems to mind. Money, not theplight of the working families,matters to corporations, and cor-porations matter to the FTAA.

Environmentally, NAFTA sparked15 US wood companies to moveinto Mexico, making the way formassive soil erosion and destruc-tion of habitats. Combined withMexico's low environmental safe-guards, moving companies havecontributed to higher pollutionand increased rates of birthdefects and hepatitis in the factoryzones near the US-Mexico border.As the FTAA expands, morecountries will have their forestscut down, their resources over-used, and their air and land con-taminated, creating environmentalproblems that could affect us all.

As if these new outlets for profitand exploitation aren't enough forcorporations and other free tradesupporters, the FTAA will carry arule (like NAFTA's Chapter 11)that allows companies to sue gov-ernments if the government passesany law that might restrict profit.These investor-to-state lawsuitsare undemocratic and, for exam-ple, have already been used torepeal laws in Canada banning theharmful fuel additive MMT. Thusnot only does the free trade agree-ment create a drive to lower stan-dards, it also has legal provisionsto force standards to remain low.

Corporate control of governmentunder these agreements doesn'tend there; the FTAA would aim to

force countries to privatize many vital public services such as water,health care, energy, or even education. Privatization in these areas can bedetrimental to communities as the right to free/cheap services becomes aright to pay more to help some multinational company profit.

Drug companies can come out on top, too, as stricter rules are imposedon patents and other intellectual property. This means that they can keepprices high instead of allowing cheaper versions of their drugs to savelives worldwide.

Thus, it is clear that many people can be negatively affected by NAFTA,the FTAA, or other free trade arrangements, but these people have no sayin the agreements. The terms are worked out by governmental leaders orhigh-up corporate giants in private meetings where the closest thing tocitizen input is the mass of protesters outside. In the U.S., Congress hasgiven up the right to vote on any details in the free trade agreements bygranting the President "Fast Track" authority. This means that theagreements are sent to Congress exactly as the President negotiated thembehind closed doors; there is no opportunity for democratic input, just avote of yea or nay.

Under these conditions, the chance for progress clearly diminishes. Theglobal north will spread its economic domination of the global south asestablished big business and superpower politics crush efforts of theweaker countries to develop for themselves. The rich countries will getricher while the poor ones get poorer just as the rich businessmen will getricher while the poor workers fall even further behind. Environmentalsustainability will recede further into the future and efforts to improveour health will continue to languish. Existing injustices will be exacer-bated, not solved. And yet the FTAA is able to plow ahead, thanks inpart to a powerfully reverberant, often-unquestioned theme: "GoCapitalism!"

AT THE GARAGESouth

Contact Liz Goldberg

Built in 1981, South ranks fifthin operational size, with 190 fulltime and 59 part time bus oper-ators.

The fleet consists of 127 40-footbuses and 18 articulated buses.South's Maintenance Dept. hasten Senior Mechanics, 27Mechanics, three SkilledHelpers, five Helpers and sixCleaners working three shifts toprovide general maintenance ofthe fleet 24 / 7. From BuildingMaintenance there are also twoJanitors, one Senior Mechanicand one Mechanic. Financeprovides one farebox technicianand two Vault Pullers. TwoStockkeepers, one LeadStockkeeper and a MaintenanceClerk round out the supportstaff. There's also a managerand six foremen.

The Maintenance Dept. isresponsible for routine busmaintenance as well as repairsderived from Driver OperatorBad Order Reports, inspections,service calls for breakdowns oraccidents.

Retirements:Ronald Puhl, #9323, 10 yearsDeClan O'Brien, #1280, 33.5years*Michael McCabe, #1458, 23years, from the company only,he will serve the remaining twoyears of his term as Local 10052nd Vice-President, per theInt'l. Constitution.

John Suttles, operator #6852, hired at Metro Transit in September 1998, wasted no time gettinginvolved; John has taken every opportunity to improve working conditions for all drivers and himself. He is theNicollet representative on the Transit Safety and Security Committee (TSSC) and was recently elected chair, thefirst black member to serve in that position. John is also a member of the Local 1005 Education Committee andthe leader of a group of men dedicated to easing relations between minority customers and Metro Transit busdrivers, similar to the Outreach Committee formerly sponsored by the agency.

Growing up in Selma, Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement, John Suttles and a young femalefriend, both in their mid-teens, were arrested when they refused to move to the back of the bus. John and hisfriend were well-known and liked; when leaders in the Black community heard the news of their arrest, it wasthe last straw of the indignities experienced by Selma's African-American residents. Like Rosa Parks' inspira-tion in Montgomery, Alabama, John's experience launched a bus boycott in Selma, which still doesn't have pub-lic bus service today.

John also participated in the Selma-to-Montgomery March for voting rights, beginning on "BloodySunday", March 7, 1965. When over 600 civil rights marchers headed east from Selma on U.S. Route 80, theywere stopped only six blocks away at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where state and local lawmen attacked withbilly clubs and tear gas, driving the marchers back into Selma. John received 13 stitches on Bloody Sunday, buthe was not deterred. He became a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC (pro-nounced "snick"), and continued to march and demonstrate for civil rights for African-Americans.

The Civil Rights Movement is the result of bus boycotts (and other non-violent actions) across the Southby hundreds of plain black folks who stopped riding the buses to work and began their brave long walk to free-dom. John Suttles contributed then to improve the quality of life for himself and fellow African-Americans.John continues his activism today to improve the quality of work life for all of us at Metro Transit.

Has John Suttles Always Beenan Activist?

In observance of Black History Month, we present the story of one of our members, John Suttles.

Black History Celebration! The dream lives on ...Come join in the celebration! Share a favorite dish or give a donation.

Heywood Garage, Friday, February 20, 200411:30 a.m.- 3:00 p.m., Program begins at 11:45

MC: James Cushenberry Driver #2167 Speakers: Brent Buckner, President of the NAACP/Minn.

Deidre Brown, Director, Rail Transportation

LettersTo TheEditor

PUBLIC OR PRIVATE

As a public employee, I' m getting a little frustrated withthe Republican politicians bad-mouthing us at every opportunityand the Democratic politiciansfailing to defend us when it hap-pens.

The implication seems to be thatthe private sector can do our jobsbetter than we can. Publicemployees are expected to get bywith less money to feed our fami-lies and accept the worst healthcare offered to private companyemployees. It seems rather tellingthat we are offered reimbursementfor thefts that occur as a result ofassaults, but are expected to dothis dangerous job while payingfor our own health care.

The recent strike by U of M cleri-cal workers brought to the public'sattention the need for a decent liv-ing by public employees. University workers were verygrateful for our support duringtheir strike and some of them haveasked what they can do to showus their support. Some of themare transit dependent, and wouldhave difficulty getting to workwithout us.

It seems like whenever there is alabor problem with our publicschools, there is a Republicanpolitician implying that we canget along without public educa-tion. Early in our nation's history,education was strictly by choice;

usually the parents making thechoices left out poor children andwomen. Since the advent of uni-versal mandatory educationour human progress has proceededat a much faster pace than previ-ously experienced.

The basic problem with privatebusiness doing everything is thatcertain businesses would not existbecause they are not profitable forthe private sector. Mass transitand universal education are twosuch businesses as well as firedepartments and police services.

One might also imagine what kindof road system we would havewithout public funding. CarolMolnau's infamous quote "Whocares about transit? I don'tknow anybody who rides thebus" is not only deplorable forthe head of MnDot but shows thekind of lack of thinking on thepart of some of these politicianswe are forced to tolerate. It isespecially telling when recentreports revealed that there areactually more cars in this metro-politan area than people. Thekind of personal space required toown and operate them affects pub-lic policy in many ways, bothdirect and indirect. Our governoris now at odds with ommissioner-designate Molnau over the con-struction of the Northstar heavyrail commuter line.

The corridor served by two largefreeways can't be expanded aseconomically as building the com-muter line, and even then our gov-ernor wants us to pay for it twiceby borrowing money to pay for itso he can stay to his ridiculousRepublican pledge of not raisingtaxes, although it is going to raiseProperty Taxes for the affected

AT THE GARAGEOHB

Contact Tom Campbell

Congratulations to our unionbrothers, who retired inJanuary:

From OHB: Warren Dickson, who was firston the seniority list, with 39years; expert painter JerryLebakken with 32 years; andthe best Transmisson technician,Al Oaks, with 31 years.From the Shelter MaintenanceDept. Bruce Tesmar retired, asdid our number one BuildingElectrican, Rodger Rodarte,both with over 30 years. We wish them all the best ofluck in their retirement.

The Overhaul Base SafetyCommittee AWARE and the FITfor Life program are workingtogether on a proposed BackSafety and Stretching programthat would be implemented atOHB. This would benefit 1005mechanics' health and safety, aswell as the agency's workers'compensation by reducinginjuries.

Stockkeepers in the StoresDepartment will be having aupcoming pick sometime inMarch, that will take effect atthe begining of April.

Visit our website atwww.1005.comPast Issues are posted onthe Education Page

counties along the corridor due tothe financing scheme. Is it actual-ly holding the line on taxes whenwe shift them from one layer ofgovernment to another?

A St. Cloud State study a coupleof years ago showed that the priceof protecting Mideast oil was actu-ally thirty two cents a gallon, butit is not paid for by gas taxes butrather by federal income taxespaid to the Defense Department.Even though Carol Molnau doesn'tknow anybody who rides the bus,she might be affected by the thirtymore cars on the road when thosebus passengers decide to drivethose cars that they currently ownto work every day.

Gas taxes don't even come close topaying for our roads. It is estimat-ed that one third of our propertytaxes go for street maintenance.Since I use about 500 gallons ofgas a year (10,000 miles at twentyMPG), I pay about $150 in gastaxes. I pay about $2000 dollarsin property taxes on my home orabout $667 for road maintenancefrom property taxes. It is a totalfallacy that gas taxes pay forroads, but yet too many peoplethink that it is the case andattempts to bring fairness to thesystem by raising our gas taxeshave failed miserably in our legis-latures.

An increase in the gas tax and theresulting increase in the cost ofdriving would definitely helpincrease our ridership, thusincreasing our efficiency anddecreasing our need tobuild more horribly expensiveroads and lower our property taxbills as well as reducing air pollu-tion and reducing asthma attacksamong our children.

I hope that pointing out how theseissues are all interconnected canmake us more thoughtful when itcomes to public policy and we canmove beyond simplistic pledgeslike "No new taxes" which arejust campaign lies that hide thetruth about financing our lives,both public and private.

There are many examples of pri-vate companies contracting withour government and wasting thepublic's money at great expense tous all. The Pentagon's recentinvestigation into Dick Cheney'sformer company Halliburton aboutthe cost of fuel for the militaryshows how private sector compa-nies can cheat our citizens. Itseems that when Republicanpoliticians say private sector theyreally mean contracting with pri-vate companies who have madelarge campaign contributions (orsoon will as payoff to keep thosecontracts).

Such companies areusually characterized by a smallnumber of very high paid execu-tives earning as much as one hun-dred times as much as their lowestpaid employees. Compare that toour public agency where our high-est paid people earn only aboutfour or five times as much as ourlowest paid.

We public employees need to pro-tect ourselves and the larger publiccitizenry from these attacks bygreedy corporate executives byalerting the public to lies about theefficiency of government servicesperformed by private companies.A few years ago, there was a classic case of a private contractorshenanigan when on the eve of aunion certification vote the presi -

dent of Medicine Lake Lines toldhis bus drivers they didn't need aunion so the employees voted notto unionize and the following daythe president took Medicine Lakeinto bankruptcy.

Of course the salary he paid him-self was not questioned by thebankruptcy court nor the contribu-tion that salary made to the needfor bankruptcy protection.

Medicine Lake had recently "won"the U of M contract(worth $2 mil-lion), paid their drivers about halfof what we were getting to operatethe service(no mention of the pres-ident and owner's salary) and thendeclared bankruptcy because theyobviously couldn't perform tospecifications of their contract.The big difference being opulencefor one or decent family support-ing wages for many throughunionization.

Frank CollinsSouth Garage

Answer to Cryto

Little Timmy lay on hisdeathbed due to poor med-ical coverage. He raspedto his father; "Why didyour company impose thatlast proposal, Daddy"?Then, like the contract, heexpired.

Be it resolved that:The 2004 Minnesota State Legislature provide Dedicated Funding for MetroTransit, to be funded by five (5)% of the sales taxes collected in the eleven (11)county metro area served by the Metropolitan Council.

Attention Members:Local 1005 needs you to participate in the March 2, 2004 precinct caucuses by submitting reso-lutions in support of dedicated funding for Metro Transit. Whether you are DFL, Republican, Independent or Green, your participation influenceshow your legislators vote on OUR JOBS & TRANSIT FUNDING.

Please attend your next Union membership meetings on January 27, 2004 & February 24, 2004for information.

Volunteer for the Local 1005 Political Action Committee (PAC).

The PAC will distribute flyers & are planning to hold informational meetings at theMinneapolis Labor Center.

You may contact :

Teresa Baird-Lundblad - FTH Maintenance, Ext. 7335.Tom Campbell or Bob Schaller - Overhaul BaseMike Qualy - South TransportationLona Burgin - FTH Transportation

Local 1005 Political ActionCommittee (PAC)

2004 February

Documents

Transcript of 2004 February