WE ARE STANDING UP FOR OUR LIVES AND LIVELIHOOD
HEY ALEX WIGGINS WE NEED ANSWERS NOW!
While we as transit workers are out on the front line risking the health and safety of ourselves and family members, Alex Wiggins is working from home or safe in his office from the dangers of COVID-19.
We are owed hazard pay for this added risk we are taking. We deserve commitments regarding our CBA, pension, benefits, and our Collective Bargaining rights as we transition from private to public in October.
We and our riders deserve thoroughly sanitized vehicles, and more frequent service and passenger limits to increase social distancing.
Alex Wiggins is refusing to give us answers in writing about any of it.
We the members of ATU Local 1560 will be coming together with other community allies on Friday, July 24, 2020 to say “We need answers now!”
It is time for Alex Wiggins and RTA to do their job and keep workers and riders safe. It is time for Local 1560 members to unite and fight back.
ATU LOCAL 1560 CARAVAN FOR OUR LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2020 - 1:00PM 2817 CANAL STREET, NEW ORLEANS
*For additional questions please contact your local leaders and organizing committee members to see how you can get involved.
Please contact: Jack 504-258-9666, Tierrani 504-416-4252, Deidre 504-322-9892
HAZARD PAY BELONGS TO FRONTLINE and ESSENTIAL WORKERS
SAFETY TIPS:
MASK
GLOVES
WASH HANDS FREQUETLY
HAZMAT SUIT
REPORT ALL NONE CLEAN VECHICLES and REPORT ALL DEFECTS
REPORT ALL CROWDERNESS and KEEP A RECORD
ATU Local 1560 have a form for all members to fill out for concerns, complaints and suggestions at each station, drop in Local 1560 mailbox @ Canal station
ATU CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) ALERT
DEMAND PROTECTION FROM EMPLOYERS!
ATU has been closely monitoring the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the threats it poses for our members and the riding public.
The ATU International has launched a Command and Response Center to provide a rapid response mechanism to address the ongoing and ever-changing crisis associated with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The ATU International has been working with our Locals to ensure that transit agencies and private contractors are protecting our members’ health, safety and security on the job.
OUR DEMANDS TO TRANSIT AGENCIES AND PRIVATE CONTRACTORS INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:
• Increased health and safety measures for transit workers and
the riding public, including gloves, masks, sanitizers, and all
PPE needed. • Pandemic leave for anyone showing symptoms of COVID-19,
exposed to them, or with family or childcare obligations resulting from shutdowns. • Rear door entry and fare elimination to support social distancing. • Retaining employees and maintaining wages and benefits during service curtailment. • Strategic continuation of service to avoid overcrowding.
WE DESERVE HAZARD PAY. WE ARE PUTTING OUR LIVES ON THE LINE FOR OUR NEIGHBORHOOD, COMMUNITIES, TOWNS, CITY, STATES AND NATION TO LIVE! YES! WE DESERVE HAZARD PAY!
March 20, 2020
Memorandum of Understanding
Pandemic, Weather, Catastrophe Emergencies and or any Act/s of God
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1560 and Transdev Transportation enter into this Memorandum of Understanding Leave in order to meet their responsibilities. We understand that appropriate leave practices are critical to protect our workforce, and the passengers and communities we serve.
Realizing that current leave and absenteeism policies do not sufficiently address the health caused by pandemic, weather, catastrophe, emergencies and or any act/s of God the parties agree to the following:
Section 1, Sickness
The Employer shall permit employees who are suffering from recognized symptoms to take Leave which is name by the Government
The expression “symptoms” shall mean those symptoms recognized by the government public health authorities.
Leave taken in response to an employee’s suffering from symptoms will extend until the sooner of (1) the employee testing negative, or (2) the employee being symptom free for at least twenty-four (24) hours.
Section 2, Leave in Response to Exposure
The Employer shall permit employees who have been exposed to take Pandemic Leave.
The expression “exposed” shall mean being within one meter of an individual known or suspected to have the virus, decease or any know pandemic which is name by the government, whether it be a coworker, passenger or other person.
Pandemic Leave taken in response to exposure will extend until the sooner of (1) testing negative or (2) being free of recognized symptoms.
Section 3, Leave in Response to Family Care Obligations
The Employer shall permit employees to take Leave if they are caring for a child, stepchild, and other person for whom an employee is a legal guardian, or a spouse or parent who is suffering from symptoms recognized by the government public health authorities.
Or has been exposed as defined in Sections 1.B and 2.B of this Memorandum of Understanding respectively.
Leave taken in response to family care obligations related to the will extend until the sooner of (1) the individual being cared for testing negative or (2) the individual being cared for being symptom free for at least twenty-four (24) hours if the individual is suffering from recognized symptoms, or the individual being cared for being free of symptoms recognized by the government public health authorities.
Section 4, Leave in Response to School Shutdown
The Employer shall permit employees to care for a child, stepchild or other person for whom an employee is a legal guardian, up to grade 8, who is a student at a school which is shutdown as a direct or indirect result of pandemic, weather, catastrophe, emergencies and or any act/s of God
Leave taken in response to a school which is shutdown as a direct or indirect result of the pandemic, weather, catastrophe, emergencies and or any act/s of God will extend until the reopening of such school.
Section 5, Requesting Leave
Employees shall request Leave as early as is reasonably possible. Employees shall request Leave by the same method as requests for other leaves due to sickness.
Section 6, No Doctor’s Note Required
The Employer shall not require a doctor’s note from an employee requesting Leave, provided that the Employer may require that an employee take an employer-paid test and provide the result the test to the Employer.
Section 7, Complement of Leave
The Employer shall provide each employee with fifteen (15) workdays of paid Leave for the first fifteen (15) workdays of leave related to pandemic, weather, emergencies and or any act/s of God at the same rate as sick leave; where there is no applicable sick leave rate, at the same rate as vacation leave; or where there is no sick or vacation leave rate, at the employee’s regular daily rate.
If an employee’s Leave extends beyond fifteen (15) workdays, the Employer shall provide the employee with an additional of paid Leave at the rate of no less than two-thirds (2/3) of the employee’s regular pay.
The fifteen (15) workdays in Section 7.A and Section 7.B of paid Leave constitute a one-time complement of paid leave.
This Memorandum of Understanding shall create an entitlement to any similar leave in the future. Leave cannot be cashed out, converted to other leave, or banked for any future leave unrelated to pandemic, weather, catastrophe, emergencies and or any act/s of God.
This Leave shall be in addition to any other leave to which an employee is entitled by contract, policy or practice.
An employee who exhausts his or her pandemic, weather, catastrophe, emergencies and or any act/s of God Leave, but who needs to remain on leave, shall be allowed to transfer to other available leaves for which he or she qualifies.
Section 8, No Discipline for pandemic, weather, emergencies and or any act/s of God Leave
The Employer shall not discipline employees for taking this Leave under this Memorandum of Understanding, and employees shall not accumulate any points under any attendance policy or program for taking such.
Section 9, Pandemic, Weather, Emergencies and or any Act/s of God Leave Available to All Employees
All bargaining unit employees, including probationary employees, shall be entitled to Pandemic, Weather, Emergencies and or any Act/s of God Leave, and even if they are not otherwise entitled to any paid leave.
ATU Local 1560 sent this email to Transdev, April 22, 2020 about our Hazard Pay
Orleans, LA enter into this Memorandum of Understanding on Hazard Pay in order to
properly compensate employees for the elevated risk of infection with COIVD-19 while
performing their duties during the COVID-19 epidemic and pandemic.
compensate employees for the incredible safety and health risks that employees are
now facing, the parties agree to the following:
than one and one half (1½) times their Regular Rate of Pay for all hours worked.
B. If under the existing collective bargaining agreement (whether in effect or
expired), or any existing policy or practice, an employee would normally receive more
than one and one half (1½) times their Regular Rate of Pay for certain hours worked,
the employee shall receive that higher rate of pay for those hours worked.
C. For the purpose of this Section, the term Regular Rate of Pay shall include an
employee’s regular wage rate and in addition any additional amounts which an
employee would normally receive under the existing collective bargaining agreement
related to the coronavirus or COVID-19 as recognized by federal authorities, or by any
Louisiana authorities with jurisdiction over all or a portion of the employer’s service
area. A Period of Emergency shall include, but not be limited to, any period of time
during which a national or Louisiana emergency has been declared, there is a stay-at-
home order in effect, or there is a similar declaration or order in effect related to the
coronavirus or COVID-19.
E. Employees shall receive Hazard Pay for hours actually worked, and shall not
receive Hazard Pay for non-work hours which are compensated such as vacation, sick
or administrative leave.
Employees shall be eligible for Hazard Pay beginning with the first full pay period
following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Hazard Pay by both
parties.
This Memorandum of Understanding will remain in effect until April 30, 2022.
TRANSDEV TRANSPORTATION RESPONDS TO THE MOUs
Hi Valerie
I want to thank you for our discussion last week. It was really valuable for Thomas and I to hear your concerns and observations. We trust that we were able to assist you with a discussion of all of the steps that Transdev is taking and will continue to take during this crisis to assure employee safety and health, from health screenings, plexi-glass and curtain driver barriers, vehicle and facility cleaning and disinfecting, PPE including masks, gloves, sanitizer, social distancing steps on board and in the facility. We are absolutely focused on employee safety and health every day and will continue to be focused in that way. Please continue to let Thomas and I know of any additional steps we can take, and any areas that we can be doing better. It is a team effort !
As we discussed last Thursday afternoon, this is a very challenging, complicated time for Transdev and the RTA. Transdev revenues are decreased, as is transit agency funding with things like sales tax revenues significantly down. While the CARES Act is providing limited COVID funding to transit agencies, agencies such as the RTA will continue to be challenged in the future due to the decreased tax revenues which could continue for some time. Also, as we noted, for clarification, CARES Act funding does not come direct to Transdev.
Regarding the MOU’s, Transdev is in receipt of the MOU’s you submitted to us through Thomas. We will continue to consider the requests included in those MOU’s, but we are not able to agree to the MOU’s at this time. However, as we discussed last Thursday, and announced last Friday, there are a few significant steps that the RTA and Transdev have taken together that are direct benefit to ATU members and are a significant investment in our employees and are significant cost to Transdev and the RTA:
- We have continued to keep all employees on full-time, paid status despite a major service reduction
- Our policies on paid time off are as generous as our economic realities allow us to be. Initially, our employees could use up to 10 days of available accrued time off before moving to unpaid leave, and all absences are of course excused.
- As you were advised Friday, with the RTA, we are implementing an additional 80 hours / 10 days of paid leave for all employees
- we have invested in the curtains and plexi-glass shields on buses and streetcars
- we have assured that proper PPE – personal protective equipment – masks, gloves, sanitizer are available to all employees daily
- we are cleaning and disinfecting the fleet and facility daily
Again, thank you for your partnership during this unprecedented time, and we will continue to remain committed to employee health and safety and working with the RTA and ATU to maintain and implement best practices.
TRANSDEV
Local 1560
STANDS on Righteousness
FIGHT for Justice
LIVE through Love
WE ARE ONE!
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Operators are unable to go to the restroom at the bus station therefore, the comapny should provide a restroom for each Operator while on duty driving bus, street car or van.
Operators need restroom at the beginning and ending of each route.
Restroom need to be clean daily and accesible for each Operator.
Time need to be set in each Operator schedule for the Operator can use the restroom.
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