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“The training and mentorship programs position transit workers as leaders who set quality service standards for the industry, provide support to new workers, take ownership of operations, and create solutions rather than problems…As a testament to the power of integrated worker voice, the mentoring program creates leaders in both management and unions, who in turn reinforce the value of working in partnership.”
-The High Road to Public Transit
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On Thursday, November 18th, CTW was invited by ZEBRA (Zero Emissions Bus Resource Alliance), to give a presentation on ZEB impacts on frontline worker training programs. ZEBRA (Zero Emissions Bus Resource Alliance) is composed of 48 agencies whose goal is to advance transit agencies’ capacity for ZEB adoption through information exchange, training programs, shared research and public education. We at CTW are excited to be working together with key personnel to meet the 2040 mandate that requires all buses in California to be all electric or hydrogen fuel cell by 2040.
On July 13th, 2021, CTW conducted a mentor training class to help prepare both new and senior mentors for moving forward after being dormant for some time. The curriculum for the day included reviewing the mentor handbook, health and wellness activities, being a mentor, working with mentees, trust building, professional operator skills and the changing landscape in public transit. Two days after the training, the Golden Gate Transit Mentor Program put on a relaunch event to let the workers know who they are and what they do. In attendance were the Golden Gate Bridge District General Manager Denis Mulligan, GGT Deputy GM Mona Babauta, GGT management, mentors, CTW staff and more. The Mentors put together a dynamic presentation on what the program is and what they plan to do moving forward.
From the Amalgamated Transit Union: "ATU International President John Costa offered condolences and support for families of victims at a moving vigil for our Local 265-San Jose, CA brothers killed in the tragic shooting. Also speaking were Local 265 President John Courtney, Mayor Sam Liccardo, family members of the our lost brothers, and others."
 The front-line transit workers and managers of the industry training consortium, California Transit Works (CTW), send our heartfelt prayers and condolences to the families of shooting victims at Valley Transportation Authority’s (VTA) Light Rail Division. At least eight of our brothers and sisters died, and those who remain behind in the workplace are traumatized and grief stricken.
As transit workers, we are accustomed to working at the edge of societal conflict and the potential for violence, but we never expected it to erupt from within. And yet, through it all, we keep showing up. We continued working during the covid pandemic and many died. And today, the buses keep rolling to take up where the temporary suspension of Light Rail service left off. This tragedy renews our commitment to the transit industry and to the workers and managers who keep the wheels rolling in the face of its many hazards. Our hearts are broken, but we are mobilizing to join our first responders, our elected officials, and the labor movement in active support of all who are traumatized and grieving. Please consider supporting our ATU brothers and sisters and the families impacted by the shooting through a tax deductible donation to the ATU Disaster Relief Fund, or by donating to the Working Partnerships USA’s Union Community Resources program. We Are One Family.
CTW was honored to be present at the Zero Emissions Bus (ZEB) training for ATU Locals on April 19, 2021. This is one of two videos we showed, followed by a presentation from Anthony Royall and Julio Granera.
"The labor/ management partnership brings pride to the workforce, to the workers.” -John Costa (President of the International Amalgamated Transit Union) The latest issue of In Transit highlights the value of labor management partnerships:  Originally published in the October-December Issue of ATU's In Transit Magazine.
The California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) designed the High Road Training Partnership (HRTP) initiative to model a sector approach that can address critical issues of equity, job quality, and environmental sustainability. HRTPs are industry-based, worker-focused training partnerships that build skills for California’s high road employers—firms that compete based on quality of product and service achieved through innovation and investment in human capital and can thus generate family-supporting jobs where workers have agency and voice. For more information: High Road Training Partnership Overview
On this International Workers' Day, CTW's senior policy advisor, Tom Fink, reminds us of the intrinsic value of work.
In a Mass Transit article, Stacey Hendler Ross writes about the success of the JWI Apprenticeship program, in partnership with Mission College: SCVTA's JWI Apprenticeship Graduates Receive First-Time College Certificate of Achievement SCVTA’s program was the first in the country to offer a bus operator apprenticeship, officially sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Labor, and it is the first in the country to offer such college credit, in its partnership with Mission College and ATU.  Another “first” for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s Joint Workforce Investment (JWI) apprenticeship program with the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU). Two hundred seventy graduates of the program received Certificates of Achievement in Transportation from Mission College in Santa Clara. The participants who completed the 18-month JWI apprenticeship program at VTA received 18 college credits. VTA’s program was the first in the country to offer a bus operator apprenticeship, officially sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Labor, and it is the first in the country to offer such college credit, in its partnership with Mission College and ATU.
General Manager and CEO Nuria Fernandez addressed graduates at a November ceremony. “We know we face many challenges in this industry,” Fernandez told the graduates, “And one of them is attracting and retaining highly skilled, dedicated workers to carry mobility service into the next several decades. We are bringing labor and management together to identify and implement solutions that upskill, reskill and build the knowledge and capabilities of our operators and maintenance workers,” she said. Since the inception of this initiative in 2015, Mission College has supported the education and training leading to Transit Career certifications in the fields of Coach Operator, Overhead Line Worker, Track Worker and Service Mechanic, which mirror the apprenticeships. Providing college credit in the program facilitates and encourages employees to advance in their careers. Each participant is assigned a more experienced mentor, which has allowed this program to become a national model for improving working conditions for transit workers, cutting down on absenteeism and reducing stress. Earlier this year, ATU International President John Costa visited San Jose to get a closer look at the workings of the joint management-labor initiative. Subsequently, his International Union passed a resolution to support the creation and development of similar programs at transit agencies across the country. VTA’s JWI program serves as a national model and works with the Transportation Learning Center to help other agencies develop like initiatives. In an article by Stacey Hendler Ross, the JWI program captures the attention of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) International. This article can also be found at the following sites: SCVTA, Mass Transit, and Metro  Apprenticeship Program Captures the Attention of ATU International08/23/2019 - Stacey Hendler Ross Strengthening the voice transit workers have at their agencies is a top priority for International President of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) John Costa. When he heard that the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and ATU Local 265 had a successful formula for that concept, he decided to make the three-thousand-mile trip from Washington, D.C. to San Jose to learn the secret to the success. What Costa may not have expected to find was the strong relationship between management and labor created through the Joint Workforce Investment program (JWI.) “I’m glad to see the pride here in how you work together,” Costa told a gathering of the VTA/ATU program participants who came together to provide Costa with a full view of how the program functions. “This is good stuff, working together.” The JWI program is a labor/management partnership that provides mentors, apprenticeships, college credit, and in many cases, career advancement, for incoming and current VTA Operations employees, including bus and light rail operators, mechanics, and light rail overhead line and track workers. It’s become a national model for improving the working conditions of transit workers, and it was the brainchild of now-retired bus operator and ATU member Tom Fink. “When I came to ATU with this proposal, (15 years ago) I was riding on my reputation as a driver and a member of the ATU (Local 265) Executive Board,” said Fink, who drove a VTA bus for 25 years. “And I said we were in a predicament with what it takes to train and mentor operators on the street.”  -The Joint Workforce Investment program become a national model for improving the working conditions of transit workers, and it was the brainchild of now-retired bus operator and ATU member Tom Fink (right).
Fink described the kind of stress front line transit workers, like bus operators, experience navigating a multi-ton bus safely through traffic while dealing with some riders who can at times be less than respectful, or even outright abusive. Such conditions can, and do, drive operators away from these jobs, and Fink wanted to figure out a way to keep that from happening. He knew the union couldn’t do it alone, and management, by themselves, hadn’t been able to find the secret to success either. But coming together to tackle the issues soon made all the difference. “The common ground,” said Fink, “was that we were both concerned about serving the public.” ATU brought in a third party facilitator, Deb Moy, of California Transit Works!, a consortium focused on transit workforce development, to draw the two sides together to create the program. Moy started doing “focus groups” among workers to see what issues needed to be addressed in order for them to maintain healthy, successful careers. She nurtured management to address those concerns and both sides agreed to commit to honest, open communication to improve the working environment. What started out pairing up new operators with more experienced “mentors” whom they could confide in and learn from, grew into a first-in-the-nation, full-fledged, state-certified apprenticeship program for multiple VTA transit professions. Mission College now offers up to 18 college credits to program participants, and the California Labor Federation and the U.S. Department of Labor are sources of financial support. What makes this program work is equal leadership on both sides, said Moy. “You’re here for a common purpose and that theme is carried through the program,” she said. Lisa Vickery, now a Transportation Superintendent in charge of VTA’s Chaboya Bus Yard, helped get the program off the ground on the management side as a newly minted supervisor. “Being able to build trust and speak honestly, our compromise is that we can look at a problem from two completely different perspectives, but come up with a solution,” Vickery said. VTA GM/CEO Nuria Fernandez started at VTA after the program was already in full swing, but she pledged that her support of it will continue. “We are here because we’re serving others,” Fernandez told the gathering, “and that’s one of the reasons our apprenticeship program is so important. Through this program, we can help each other be better.” ATU International President John Costa was impressed enough that he wants to help integrate the concept into the ATU International training program, and encourage other ATU locals to bring it to their transit agencies. “We’re going to try to encourage other locals to do the same because it’s benefitted the workers’ voice,” said Costa. “We’ve seen the success here and we want to push that to other agencies.”  On April 13th , CTW Directors Jamaine Gibson and Ray Messier met with Golden Gate Transit (GGT) mentors to discuss developing metrics to track program successes and to explore methods GGT could use to strengthen mentor and mentee relationships and improve the mentoring process.
 Long time JWI mentor Ron Langston was recently profiled by VTA as part of Transit Driver Appreciation Day! In the article by Holly Perez, Ron highlights the importance of forming close bonds as "a critical part of a mentor and mentee relationship.” Read more about what keeps Ron going strong at vta.org/News-and-Media   On January 19th, members of CTW (Deb, Jamaine, Robert and Sue) took part in an all-day mentor training at AC Transit. The day started out with intros from the mentors and the coordinators Danny Marshall and Michael Flocchini of their program, followed by COO Salvador Llamas and the Director of Transportation Derik Calhoun. Deb Moy led the mentor focus group in the morning to help the mentors design their own GYR forms for the program. Deb stressed the importance of “letting the mentors voice their own words and reach their own conclusions during this process.” In the afternoon, Jamaine, Robert, Sue and Eric Chavez led a discussion on how we started our JWI program and some of the experiences that we’ve had throughout the years at VTA.
 An event was held November 10th, 2018 at Golden Gate Transit's main yard in San Rafael, CA. to introduce the mentoring program and the mentors to the drivers. The mentors spent the day answering driver's questions, providing an overview of the role of a mentor, and explaining to drivers how they can also become a mentors.
 CTW helps unions create apprenticeship programs that gives their members pride in their profession. During VTA’s general signup for coach operators at the Chaboya division in San Jose, a ceremony was held for all the apprentices that couldn’t attend the JWI coach operator apprenticeship graduation that was held at the ATU local 265 union hall on October 27, 2018.
Handing out the certificates are ATU President Terry Russell, who is also on the CTW steering committee, ATU Recording Financial Secretary John Courtney, and a union shop steward from each one of the bus divisions. |
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