New Transit Local in the Fast Lane

Monday, April 30, 2007

Living proof of the power of organizing, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1764 has nearly tripled membership in the last seven months. The local, whose 682 members work for area transportation companies, is a brand-new affiliate of the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO, and was chartered just over a year ago in March 2006. Local 1764 was formed when ATU Local 1493 – a huge local spanning much of the Eastern Seaboard – was reorganized into more locally-based locals a few years back. Local 1764’s members drive, repair and maintain buses, mini-buses, vans, motor coaches and sedans for MV Transit, Carolina Trailways, Goldline, James River and the Downtown Circulator. President Wayne Baker, 54 and a sharp dresser with an impeccably-trimmed mustache and a ready smile who’s been driving for 32 years, now steers the rapidly-growing transit local, which has gone from just 136 members last September to nearly 700 today. Baker was the main driver behind the organizing campaign at MV Transit, bringing in nearly 500 members who work in the metro Washington region at facilities in Capitol Heights, Beltsville and Baltimore. But Baker’s still not satisfied. “We have the potential for at least another 700 members at several other bus companies,” he tells UNION CITY. Issues facing the local include routine wage and hour problems and recently the local has had to contend with a move by MV to summarily dismiss any driver with a felony record, even though many of the targeted drivers have exemplary driving records and have long since cleared their records. Baker started driving back in 1973 for Metro predecessor DC Transit, has worked for a number of transit companies over the years, still gets behind the wheel of a tour bus from time to time and -- like Firefighters 36 President Dan Dugan – loves to ride his 100% union-made Harley Davidson motorcycle in his spare time.
-Story/photo by Chris Garlock

 

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