The 'Amalgamated Transit Union' (ATU) is a
labor union in the
United States and
Canada, representing
workers in the transit system and other industries.
The ATU was founded in
1892, and today has more than 180,000 members in more than 273 local unions in 46 states and 9 provinces. The ATU includes bus, subway, light rail and ferry operators, clerks, baggage handlers, mechanics and others in the urban transit, over-the-road and school bus industries, as well as paratransit, emergency medical, clerical and municipal workers.
It lost a bitter strike against the
Greyhound Lines in
1983. A bitter 38-month strike against Greyhound launched in
1990 was finally settled in
1993. The ATU consolidated the twenty different "locals" that had once represented Greyhound employees into one: Local 1700.
In October 2003, it supported a strike of mechanics against Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority in Los Angeles over the cost and control of its benefit plan. The union avoided the benefit cost increases demanded by the MTA, while deferring resolution over other issues.
Its current International President is Warren S. George, who assumed office on
July 1,
2003.
A similar union affiliate with
AFL-CIO is the
Transport Workers Union of America, which represents transit workers at the
New York City Transit Authority.
External links
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Amalgamated Transit Union
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ATU Canada
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"The Great Greyhound Strikes" (Mineta Transportation Institute College of Business commentary and analysis)