Building Partnerships, Shaping the Future: The CTW Southern California Regional Conference7/26/2025
The 2025 CTW Southern California Regional Conference brought together union leaders, management, mentors, coordinators, and frontline workers from across the Southern California region.
Throughout the day, teams shared updates, challenges, and successes from their programs. Mentors and coordinators spoke about their journeys and why this work matters. Breakout groups had honest conversations about what’s working, what’s needed, and how to keep moving forward.
The day ended with a clear goal—stay connected, support each other, and keep building strong, sustainable partnerships. More to come!
Big thanks to host RAMP 22, the High Road Training Partnership (HRTP) between Riverside Transit and ATU Local 1277!
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On July 21–22, 2025, California Transit Works (CTW) partnered with ATU Local 1277 to deliver a dynamic two-day Fundamental Electrical Electronics (FEE) course at the ATU 1277 Union Hall. Participants included frontline maintenance workers from RTA and LA Metro (Ramp 22 & LACMTA), all focused on strengthening their technical skills and problem-solving abilities. Led by CTW’s Director of Bus Maintenance Training, Russell Anderson, the session blended hands-on exercises with clear, concise instruction that made even complex concepts easier to grasp.
Firsthand reactions from the frontline:
This session is part of ATU’s High Road to Innovative Clean Transit Dept. of Labor H1B grant, partnering with CTW through the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB). Course attendees included Jonathan Baunzan, David Lambie, Albert Vega, Jeffrey Shoopman, Alan Van Petten, Ricardo Romero, and Matthew Kanowsky.
 From July 14–16, 2025, the Sunline Transit and ATU Local 1277, HRTP (ATLAS) took part in a powerful three-day benchmarking visit AND partnership building retreat in Northern California. The goal of this visit was to strengthen the ATLAS partnership by learning from HRTPs in northern California and taking important time together (away from daily work demands) to build a strong foundation for the SunLine and ATU 1277 partnership. This visit showcased the vibrant California Transit Works (CTW) statewide network of High Road Training Partnerships (HRTPs). It was an exciting learning opportunity – not only for ATLAS, but for northern California HRTPs to acknowledge and celebrate the significance of their own work.
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 Day 3 concluded with a retreat facilitated by CTW and gave ATLAS labor and management members the opportunity to draw from the benchmarking visits in designing the foundation of their own partnership. Labor and management shared open and honest assessments of SunLine operations, and how they want to move forward as a strong team.  As George Hernandez, SunLine Maintenance Mechanic/ATU 1277 Shop Steward, remarked, "Let's do it. I love it! I'm excited. It makes me want to stay, you know, a little bit longer instead of retiring. To see it done, that's been always my dream, to see it done." They concluded the visit by creating an action plan of how ATLAS will move forward in 2025.  Gustavo Vasquez, ATU Local 192 Apprentice Mentor, captured the spirit of ATLAS throughout the benchmarking process: “There definitely is passion — Your heart's in it. Stay with it. Create that partnership between union and management. Work together. Once you guys work together and there's harmony there, you guys will progress quickly as you get to where you want to be!”  Thank you to ATLAS and all the HRTPs who contributed to making this visit a resounding success! CTW looks forward to continuing these exchanges between HRTPs and building a strong network/learning community of these groundbreaking public transit HRTPs in California.
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© COPYRIGHT 2025. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
California Transit Works!
PO Box 83
Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
EMAIL: [email protected]
© COPYRIGHT 2025. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.