Informational picket in support of ATU 1447 held Tuesday; more negotiations set for today

By BERRY CRAIG

AFT Local 1360

Chanting "What do we want? Contract. When do we want it? Now," members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1447 and members of other unions walked an informational picket line at Jefferson Square park near City Hall on Tuesday “to make sure the public knows there will be a strike if management doesn't present a fair contract to the union," said Bill Londrigan, Kentucky State AFL-CIO president. 

The chant continued: "if we don't get it. Shut him down." 

Local 1447 members work for the Transit Authority of River City, TARC for short. In October, 95 percent of union members--bus drivers, maintenance employees and dispatchers--voted to sanction a work stoppage if negotiations with TARC management fail, WDRB reported.

Union members voted to authorize a strike after 97 percent of the membership turned thumbs down on TARC's Sept. 9 contract offer, according to WDRB. Londrigan called that offer "too little, too late."

Both sides were to meet today (Nov. 2) when ATU negotiators hope TARC will offer more pay and agree to improved safety standards, WDRB reported. Wages are so low that workers are logging 60 to 70-hour weeks to make ends meet, said Lillian Brents, Local 1447 president. 

WDRB quoted from a news release in which Brents said "TARC leadership's entire approach to public transit creates poor service for riders and poor conditions for workers. All we are asking of TARC is to show us the respect we've earned. That means sit down with us and negotiate a fair contract, create a safe workplace, and improve service. Instead, they have wasted time dragging out talks, making easy-to-disprove claims, and throwing down ultimatums."

A TARC statement said that a strike would violate the current contract and that public employees are forbidden to strike under state law.

Londrigan was joined on the picket line by Kentucky State AFL-CIO secretary-treasurer Jeff Wiggins, Kirk Gillenwaters, president of the Kentucky Alliance of Retired Americans, and other union officials and rank-and-file members.