Have you been digging around the internet lately trying to find out more info on the great ATU initiative around this so-called "Structural Exploration Committee" that is being proposed by Int. Pres. Hanley? Not having any luck because you can't find a damn thing anywhere on your Local's web page, and nothing at all on the web site of the International? Even the latest copy of the glossy ATU InTransit magazine had nothing in it explaining what this process is all about.
Fortunately, there is a report by an actual member of the ATU's Structural Exploration Committee handpicked by International President Hanley himself, on what has been going on with this process - which must be top secret because there is so little information available to regular rank and file members about it. Go to the link below which is to the web page of ATU Local 1741 in Lafayette, Indiana representing Bus Operators, Maintenance Personnel, and Paratransit Operators employed by the Greater Lafayette Public Transportation Corporation, doing business as CityBus. The President of Local 1741, Bryan Walck, was appointed by International President Larry Hanley to serve on the ATU's Structural Exploration Committee.
The Committee was formed in accordance with a resolution passed at the 56th International Convention and is tasked with examining all aspects of the ATU's structure and operation. Committee recommendations will be drafted into resolutions and presented to the delegates assembled at the 57th International Convention later this summer. Local 1741 President Walck will serve as one of the fifteen members of the Committee which met between May 28th and May 31st near Washington, DC. The International apparently provided airfare, hotel accommodations, most meals, and all training materials.
A very detailed report on what transpired at each day of the meeting can be found on the President's Blog section of the the Local 1741 web site. The report actually starts midway to the bottom of the web page and you have to scroll up to follow the daily reports for the 3 day meeting.
Looks like the bigwigs were there, Hanley and International VP Javier Perez. Perez seems to be Hanley's right hand man these days - he is running the show in Chicago with respect to the ongoing trusteeship of local 241. Now apparently the resolution on "Structural Change" is an attempt by the ATU to address issues that are currently facing transit unions such as privatization, the needs of the Locals, challenges for the future, and the direction the ATU will be moving in.
The committee is discussing how success is to be defined and how they plan to build ATU power. They have prepared a detailed list of issues that the ATU confronts such as Privatization Legislation; Bargaining; Rising Healthcare Costs; Leadership Skills; Corporate Lobbying; Reporting and Recordkeeping; Funding; Organizing; Attacks on Defined Benefit Pension Plans; Grievance/Contract; Arbitration Costs; and Training.
When it comes to the matter of how to best use resources and capacity to build power within the ATU the committee appears to have focused on measures the International is taking to significantly cut operating costs and direct money back into the field where it's needed most. The field being talked about here is that of political campaigning and lobbying which requires turning members dues money into dollars for democrats.
Looks like the bigwigs were there, Hanley and International VP Javier Perez. Perez seems to be Hanley's right hand man these days - he is running the show in Chicago with respect to the ongoing trusteeship of local 241. Now apparently the resolution on "Structural Change" is an attempt by the ATU to address issues that are currently facing transit unions such as privatization, the needs of the Locals, challenges for the future, and the direction the ATU will be moving in.
The committee is discussing how success is to be defined and how they plan to build ATU power. They have prepared a detailed list of issues that the ATU confronts such as Privatization Legislation; Bargaining; Rising Healthcare Costs; Leadership Skills; Corporate Lobbying; Reporting and Recordkeeping; Funding; Organizing; Attacks on Defined Benefit Pension Plans; Grievance/Contract; Arbitration Costs; and Training.
When it comes to the matter of how to best use resources and capacity to build power within the ATU the committee appears to have focused on measures the International is taking to significantly cut operating costs and direct money back into the field where it's needed most. The field being talked about here is that of political campaigning and lobbying which requires turning members dues money into dollars for democrats.
That this is the underlying agenda becomes clear when the committee addressed the issue of how to empower ATU Locals and to shore up their strength and stability, especially small Locals with no full time officer. The committee is not looking at ways to increase member involvement in their local, to increase the participatory and democratic procedures within locals or the International, or how to increase transparency and accountability at the local or International level.
What is being proposed is the increased use of top down bureaucratic structures within the existing International Constitution and General Laws of the ATU such as Joint Bargaining Councils, and Joint Service Councils in place of local officers and representatives. In this respect the purpose and goals of the Structural Exploration Committee are profoundly anti-democratic and seek to impose top down administrative control over ATU locals by the International. It is in essence a way of imposing conditions of trusteeship over locals without some of the political dissension and opposition generated by the formal trusteeship process.
The problems with the ATU were clearly exposed by the failed New York School bus drivers' strike this last winter. This is a union that has lost connection with its membership, where the leadership at the local and international level is more concerned with advancing their own careers as full time well compensated union officials and bureaucrats. The inevitable result for the membership is sell-out contracts, concessionary bargaining, loss of benefits, lower wages and loss of job security. The ATU has clearly abandoned all interest in defending the class interests of its membership and has become an intermediary for the state and private capital assisting and enabling the imposition of cutbacks and austerity politics throughout the transportation industry.
