LA Metro to Vote on Police Contract February 23

On Thursday, February 23rd, The Board of Director for LA Metro will vote on a new police contract at the Board of Directors- Regular Board Meeting.  For more Information follow the link below:

http://www.gca875smart.org/news/2016/12/9/go-875-requests-members-opinion-on-transportation-police

The meeting starts at 9AM and members of the public are welcome to speak.  There is a full agenda and there is no telling when the agenda item (#42) will be taken up.  If you would like to speak at the meeting be prepared to wait through the entire meeting.  A SMART representative will be on hand to help you fill out speaker cards and inform you of the public speaking process.  You can see the entire agenda by following the link below:

https://metro.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=517044&GUID=5B227E61-0C48-44F2-8F7B-74BAA576050F&Options=info&Search=

For more information please visit

http://www.gca875smart.org/la-metro-police-contract/

SMART & LACMTA hold first negotiation session

Yesterday, February 15th, 2017, SMART General Committee 875 and the LACMTA held its first negotiation session at the SMART offices in Irwindale, CA.  

SMART Transportation President John Previsich was in attendance to observe and offer his advice and support. “Bus and Rail Operators are an important piece of the SMART Union organization. I am here to offer my support and assistance to get an equitable and fair contract that our members deserve.” said Previsich.  Transportation President Previsich will continue to monitor the progress of the negotiations and attend sessions on occasion to continue that support.

The two sides will meet again today at the LACMTA offices at Union Station. 

During the duration of the negotiations, no specific agendas, proposals or tentative agreements will be shared publicly, by either side, until an agreement is ready for ratification by the members.  This policy is not in place to unnecessarily keep information from the members but is designed to protect the negotiations process.  There are no agreements until both sides have signed, so it would be premature to offer any specific information until that time.

You can stay up to date on contract negotiations by visiting  http://www.gca875smart.org/2017-contract-negotiations/

Previsich visits Irwindale

Yesterday,  SMART Transportation President John Previsich visited the General Committee 875 offices in Irwindale.  A delegation from Cleveland accompanied Previsich to discuss important Union matters, and General Chairman Gudino had an opportunity to provide a local perspective and input.

GO-875 REQUESTS MEMBERS OPINION ON TRANSPORTATION POLICE

In February 2017, the LACMTA will vote on a comprehensive security policy to provide police services to the LA Metro system.  The LACMTA Staff recommendation is to end its current contract with the LA County Sheriffs Department and enter into a multi-agency policing strategy with Los Angeles Police, Long Beach Police and Los Angeles County Sheriffs combined.

You can see the LACMTA Staff recommendation by following the link below.

Metro Comprehensive Policing and Security Strategy

The LACMTA Board has requested more information before it votes on a final plan.  This request for more information gives the LA Metro operators a unique opportunity to have an impact on who will be policing the system for the next 5 years.  The General Committee is looking for stories of when operators had a situation that required assistance from the LA Sheriffs or other law enforcement agencies while operating a bus or train.  What was the outcome?  Did the interaction make you feel safe or protected?  Who do you think should police the system?

The General Committee is asking for these stories to be written so that they may be delivered to the LACMTA Board in February.  Write a letter or use the form below to draft your response.  Mail or deliver it to the union offices in Irwindale or to any Local Chairman no later than Monday, February 13, 2017.  Please only send one response or letter, please keep your comments brief and please no emails.

General Committee Meets in Preparation for Contract Negotiations

Earlier this week, SMART General Committee 875 met at the the union offices in Irwindale to discuss the upcoming contract negotiations with the LACMTA.  The returns of the employee questionnaire were discussed and plans for additional negotiation training were set.

Transportation Division Vice President Reddy Adhi has been assigned by SMART Union International to assist GO-875 in these contract negotiations.  “Mr. Reddy” was formerly the General Chairman for SMART members at Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus and was instrumental in securing their contract.  This addition to the GO-875 negotiating team is a much appreciated and valuable resource.

Finally, the General Committee set a list of dates and times for the special union meetings to discuss the upcoming contract negotiations.  All members are welcome to attend any of the meetings being held over the next month and a half.

 

 

Its Yes on Measure M

There was chaos and upheaval in last night’s election results.  Pollsters were called out, and election experts were put to shame.  One race that held true to its projections and one that nearly 70% of Los Angeles County voters agreed on was Yes on Measure M.

Measure M is a historic victory for the LA County commuters, public transportation customers and transportation workers.  Measure M will extend the current Measure R half cent sales tax passed in 2008 and would add an additional half cent in perpetuity.  The funding will go operate and expand the public transportation network, make road and freeway improvements and fund transportation initiatives in smaller LA County cities.

SMART General Committee 875 got involved early in the process and helped to craft the legislation ensuring there would be money for public transportation operations.  Those dollars will help ensure reliable bus services to connect transit riders to the ever-expanding light rail system.

SMART General Committee 875 is gratified by last night’s passage of Measure M and is excited for the future of Los Angeles County public transportation.  Measure M is a piece of much needed great news for county residents, commuters and workers.

VOTE! It’s the SMART Thing to do

Election Day is Tuesday, November 8th.  SMART General Committee 875 encourages all of its members to go and Vote. 

It is the duty of every union member to vote.  It is a privilege to be a union member and to have the ability to collectively bargain.  What used to be a right is under attack and union members need to do everything they can to protect their right to organize.  As quickly as you can negotiate for better wages, benefits and working conditions at the bargaining table, the legislature and congress can take it away.  That’s why voting for pro-union candidates and causes is so important. 

To help its members in the decision making process, General Committee 875 has put together a list of Los Angeles County endorsements for this election.  Included is the list of endorsements from the SMART California State Legislative Board.  For more information, log onto gca875smart.org and click on Campaign 2016 at the top of the page.

VOTE! It’s the SMART thing to do.

Measure M                                                      Yes
http://www.voteyesonm.org/
http://www.gca875smart.org/measure-m/

County Supervisor 4th District                      Janice Hahn
http://www.janicehahn.com/
http://www.gca875smart.org/janice-hahn-for-supervisor/

County Supervisor 5th District                      Kathryn Barger
http://www.kathrynbarger.com/
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-end-supervisor-fifth-20160920-snap-story.html

California State Legislative Board Endorsements

President of the United States                     Hillary Clinton
https://www.hillaryclinton.com/
https://smart-union.org/news/smart-endorses-clinton-for-president/
http://www.gca875smart.org/clinton-las-vegas/

United States Senator                                   Kamala Harris
http://kamalaharris.org/

California State Legislative Board Endorsements for State Assembly and Senate can be found here

 

Vote YES on Measure M

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 10, 2016

VOTE YES ON MEASURE M

Irwindale CA-  SMART General Committee 875 proudly endorses YES on Measure M because Measure M is a good deal for Los Angeles County residents, commuters and workers.

Measure M is a Los Angeles County, sales tax, ballot initiative that that will extend the current Measure R sales tax and impose and additional half percent sales tax.  The taxes will pay for transportation projects, operations and services throughout the county for at least the next 60 years.  Measure R was responsible for the transportation expansion that LA County has enjoyed in recent years and Measure M will double down on the mission to expand public transportation even further. 

Measure M is a good deal for anyone who is interested in transportation issues.  Every resident of Southern California has wished for a better way to get around the region and Measure M seeks to grant that wish.  Measure M will expand the current light rail system in order to bring rapid transportation services to more areas of the county.  In order to get these new riders to and from the popular light rail stations, additional bus services would be needed to pick up and drop off in order to start and complete the journey.  Although light rail is a major emphasis of the new construction, bus service will continue to be a vital resource and the back bone of the public transportation system. 

Measure M is a good deal for jobs.  Not only will Measure M ensure and secure the jobs that exist today, but Measure M will finance the strong middle class jobs of tomorrow.  From the beginning of the ballot proposal process, General Committee 875 worked diligently with state, county and city officials to ensure that money for operations would be included just as it had been in Measure R.  The operations budget is what pays for the bus and rail operating expenses which includes operators, mechanics and service attendants.  A healthy operations budget could lead to increased services hours on current lines and routes, reduce the need to eliminate service on “poor performing” lines and provide for new types of "First Mile / Last Mile" services that MTA employees could take advantage of.

Measure M is a good deal for Los Angeles County commuters because Measure M will redefine what transportation looks like in the region.  Measure M is a good deal for Los Angeles County workers because Measure M will finance the good middle class job of the future.  Measure M is a good deal for Los Angeles County.  Vote YES on Measure M.

___________________________________________________________________SMART Transportation Division General Committee 875 is the collective bargaining unit for the nearly 5000 bus and light rail operators for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority also know as LA Metro.  For more information please contact Andrew Gonzales at (626) 962-9980 or by email at agonzales.utu@gmail.com

Campaign for Clinton in Fabulous Las Vegas

SMART Campaign Program

Hop on the bus and roll with SMART to put HRC in the White House!  SMART International is sponsoring a day of action in Las Vegas to help Hillary Clinton win the battleground state of Nevada.  We will be joined by our Sheet Metal brothers and sister at Local 105 in a true show of SMART unity behind a common cause.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2016

SMART is looking for 40 – 50 motivated members to join us so space is limited.  To RSVP for this event, call the SMART offices in Irwindale at (626) 962-9980 or visit the CONTACT page and leave your information.

Campaign for Clinton!  It’s the SMART thing to do.

Hillary Clinton on Labor and Unions

Campaign for Hillary in Fabulous Las Vegas

The LA County Federation of Labor is looking for volunteers to campaign for Hillary Clinton in Las Vegas October 1-2 & October 15-16.  Space is limited and we have reserved 10 spaces for GO-875 members for each weekend.  If we get enough volunteers we may be able to expand our reservation.  This is a walking event so you must be ready and willing to walk and knock on doors.

To volunteer for this event please visit the CONTACT page.  Put "Campaign for Hillary in Las Vegas" in the subject line, leave your contact information, what local you are from and the dates you want to volunteer.

Campaign for Hillary
It's the SMART thing to do.

Lines 190 & 194 Agreement News

July 25, 2016

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

Following news of a settlement between SMART General Committee 875 and LACMTA over of the loss of lines 190 & 194, the General Committee and Local Chairmen received a large number of questions. It also appears that half truths and misinformation have been circulating at some Divisions. This bulletin will hope to address and clarify some of those questions and concerns.

General Chairman Marco Gudino demanded bargaining under Article 51 of the contract. Article 51 states that the LACMTA could not eliminate or transfer lines “unless it shall first have made adequate provisions for any employees who are covered by this Contract between SMART-TD and the Authority, who are or may be displaced, or whose wages, hours, place or conditions of employment are or may be adversely affected.”  Although this Article required some type of “adequate provisions,” it does not guarantee any type of monetary payout at all.

Negotiations

  • LACMTA started with a financial offer of $0 along with a promise to not lay anyone off as a result of the loss of 190 & 194. LACMTA took the position that not even one operator was “adversely affected” because no single operator would be laid off or have his or her pay cut.  General Chairman Gudino took this as an insult and demanded greater service and work protections as well as financial restitution for those members who were clearly “adversely affected.” The Authority attempted to deny and limit the scope of “adversely affected”, the Union pushed to expand the scope to the entire membership of Division 9.  

Agreement between SMART and LACMTA

  • Given that no LA Metro employee or union member is entitled to financial payout for the elimination of service, the financial restitution obtained in this agreement was prioritized to the employees who suffered the greatest “adverse affects”.  Any claims outside the scope of “adversely affected” would have been an impossible legal burden to overcome.  In other words, without the agreement negotiated by General Chairman Gudino, not one employee would have received any monetary compensation as a result of the loss of these lines.
     
  • Financial restitution for operators was only a very small portion of the overall agreement reached between SMART and the LACMTA. The overwhelming biggest portion of the settlement pie went to greater reinvestment in bus service to replace much of the operator work that was lost due to the elimination of the lines. General Chairman succeeded in obtaining 50% more work created through reinvestment than the Authority originally proposed, and the creation of this extra work benefits every single SMART represented operator by greatly reducing the overall effect of the loss of lines 190 & 194.
     
  • Further, General Chairman Gudino also managed to obtain a critically important and unprecedented concession from LACMTA - a 5-year moratorium on subcontracting, transfers or elimination of service on ALL LINES operated by SMART-TD represented employees.  This provision of the agreement is what provides real “adequate provisions for any employees who are covered by this Contract” because it covers the entire LA Metro system and not just the lines at Division 9.  The General Committee is aware that the LACMTA has been looking into further bus service eliminations and transfers as it appears to focus much more of its attention on light rail.  This agreement puts a serious delay in those plans and serves as a warning to any future attempts.  

Therefore, through this financial reinvestment and through the 5-year moratorium, General Chairman Gudino has obtained adequate protections for all operators across the system.  In addition, he was able to obtain some small restitution for the operators most affected by the loss – the operators in Division 9 – even though no single operator has an entitlement to financial restitution or compensation.  Any person claiming that the rest of LA Metro operators are somehow entitled to a financial payout due to the loss of lines 190 & 194, is exceptionally ill-informed and is carelessly spreading false claims and misinformation.

In Solidarity,

Marco Gudino
General Chairman
SMART-TD

 

General Chairman Negotiates Major Deal Over Lines 190 & 194

This week General Chairman Marco Gudino successfully negotiated an agreement with the LACMTA over the effects of the transfer of Bus Lines 190 and 194 to Foothill Transit.  The agreement has a total value of over $4 million and includes reinvestment in the Division 9 bus lines, monetary compensation for all operators at Division 9 and a subcontracting moratorium for 5 years.

As far back as December 2014, there has been an effort by some member or members of the LACMTA Board to transfer Lines 190 & 194 to Foothill Transit.  Since it was first proposed, General Committee 875 has advocated with the LA County Supervisors, the Mayor of Los Angeles and Local Service Councils to oppose the transfer.   With powerful political figures leading the transfer effort and all the resources of the MTA staff at those politicians’ disposal, the Union had little chance to stop it. 

Once the MTA Board approved the transfer, General Chairman Gudino demanded bargaining over the disposal of the lines to ensure adequate protection for the operators.  Article 51 has provisions for employees affected by the transfer of lines 190 & 194 to have those adequate protections negotiated between SMART and the MTA.  General Chairman Gudino considered using this provision to delay implementation of the service changes by taking the case all the way to court and arbitration.  After consultation with legal counsel, it was determined that the Union could negotiate a better deal for the members than might be awarded by an arbitrator following a costly legal battle.

General Committee 875 has no legal or contractual authority to stop the elimination of MTA bus lines.  When the MTA eliminated and transferred lines in the past, little or nothing was done to provide for or protect the members affected.  Given all of those challenges, General Chairman Gudino was not satisfied with business as usual and negotiated a ground breaking deal with never before seen provisions and protections for the members of SMART.

First, the elimination of service has already been delayed a year from its original date of June 2015.  This is thanks in part to advocacy that was done with Mayor Eric Garcetti when he was Chairman of the MTA Board.  In the agreement the MTA agreed that no employee will be laid off due to the elimination of Lines 190 & 194.  Once the elimination is implemented, the MTA will begin to reinvest 50% of the savings into other lines at Division 9 for three years instead of the one year which is their statutory obligation.  That is three times more work that is secured for the members in this agreement.  To ensure compliance with this provision, the MTA will provide SMART with quarterly reports detailing its reinvestment levels and activity. 

To ensure stability of the system and the work for the members, General Chairman Gudino was able to secure a level of control over the subcontracting, line elimination and service change process in this agreement.  For the next five years, the MTA agrees to not subcontract, solicit, transfer or otherwise dispose of any bargaining unit lines, system wide, without the written consent and an agreement from SMART.  This is a provision that benefits every SMART member employed by LA Metro.

To reimburse all of the operators at Division 9 impacted by the elimination of Lines 190 & 194, General Chairman Gudino negotiated a far-reaching financial settlement.  The financial settlement includes five days of scheduled work assignment pay to all active Full-Time and Part-Time operators assigned to Lines 190 & 194 as of May 18.  Two hours pay at their regular rate will be given to all other operators at Division 9 and one additional floating holiday for all Full Time operators at Division 9.  The total package of reinvestment and compensation equals approximately $4.125 Million.

Ultimately the Union wanted to keep Lines 190 & 194.  Once all options were exhausted to that end, General Chairman Gudino did not simply give up as had been done in the past.  The Union enforced its contractual rights and negotiated an unprecedented deal for the members.  This agreement not only provides for SMART members today but also serves as a deterrent to any future subcontracting and line transfer plans the MTA has in the future.  This agreement serves notice to the MTA that they can no longer give up Union work without a fight.  

General Committee 875 Thanks Victor Baffoni

June 8, 2016

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

This May signified the last time that International Representative Victor Baffoni would be assisting the SMART General Committee 875 offices in Irwindale, CA. Mr. Baffoni will continue working as International Representative while completing assignments on various other properties.

For over four decades Vic served as an operator, a steadfast Union man and a true friend to many who have been lucky enough to serve with him.  Vic took his first Union leadership role in 1983 as a Legislative Representative for Local 1565.  For the next 30 years, Victor Baffoni devoted his life to his Union Brothers and Sisters serving as Chairman of the California State Legislative Board, Secretary to the General Committee of Adjustment, Chairman of Local 1608, Vice President of UTU,  and finally SMART International Representative.

SMART General Committee 875 would like to thank Victor Baffoni for his many years of leadership,service and friendship. On a personal note, as your new General Chairman I had the opportunity to work in conjunction with Vic and remain certain that this General Committee will continue to meet and protect the ever-changing needs of its members.

Sincerely and Fraternally yours,

Marco Gudino
General Chairman 

California Primary Election Day

Find Your Polling Place
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/polling-place

California's primary is Tuesday. Here's everything you need to know.
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-california-primary-201600606-snap-htmlstory.html

SMART ENDORSES CLINTON FOR PRESIDENT
https://smart-union.org/news/smart-endorses-clinton-for-president/

General Committee 875 Endorses Ara Najarian for County Supervisor
http://www.gca875smart.org/news/2016/6/3/general-committee-875-endorses-ara-najarian-for-county-supervisor

SMART General Committee 875 Endorses Janice Hahn for County Supervisor
http://www.gca875smart.org/news/2016/3/10/g38757rla6qyhcxej0fp13bziar6vv