Organization Purpose
This site is intended to aid workers at the Utah Transit authority in
obtaining real union representation. While it was initially intended to aid the employees at TRAX, all Utah Transit employees
are welcome to share in this site's goal of improving union representation at UTA and, consequently, improving the lives
of the hard working people who keep the UTA's system running and serving the people of Utah.
As we get started
this site will begin with information about the now infamous lawsuit at TRAX. It will attempt to fill in the gaps in knowledge
about the suit so that transit workers, and anyone else who is interested, can find the truth as regards the why and how of
the lawsuit. As we move forward with our web-site, the purpose and scope of it will expand as needed. Like most of you looking
in, the publishers of this site work for a living and have other pressing issues to contend with. We will do our best to fill
this site with the kind of information that will allow us all to engage in useful discussion about how we can best organize
to defend our rights.
Our Mission
Our mission is to create a forum that workers at the UTA can use to achieve
better representation. This forum will help create the tools and organization we will need to face the challenges that confront
us as mass transportation expands to meet the growing needs of an increasingly overburdened mass-transit system.
It
is essential that we have the broadest participation possible.
It is essential that we have an
open discussion regarding the current bargaining representative. It is entirely up to the rank and file workers to decide
who their bargaining representative should be. NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO FORCE ANY PARTICULAR UNION REPRESENTATIVE ON
US! Regardless of what you may have been told, employees of the Utah Transit Authority have the same rights as workers
in private industry (URBAN MASS TRANSPORTATION ACT). If these rights are not protected then, by law, the UTA cannot recieve
federal funds. We now have the opportunity, using this web-site as an organizational tool, to work for whatever changes we
deem neccessary. Many of you have been told that if we were to decertify the current union we would have to wait one year
before we could join another union; This statement is FALSE!!
YOUR
FEDERAL AND STATE RIGHTS AS A PUBLIC TRANSIT WORKER
Under section
13c of the Urban Mass Transportation Act (UMTA) transit workers are entitled to rights equivalent to those accorded to workers
in the private sector. Courts have historically looked to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to define
these rights. These rights are also accorded to UTA workers by Utah Code Annotated 17A-2-31, which was
enacted in 1969 in order that Utah be eligible for federal transit funding under the 13c provisions of UMTA. We have,
and have always had, the right to vote to change our representative. The "bargaining unit" is the
voting district which elects the "bargaining representative." Neither UTA nor ATU is supposed to have
any say in the matter. The explanations of UMTA and 13c, given repeatedly by Local 382 over the last 15 years, are nonsense.
For example, the assertion made over and over by the former and present presidents of 382, that we do not have binding arbitration
is untrue. While binding arbitration is not a federally guaranteed right, it is guaranteed us by Utah state law to be in compliance
with provisions of 13c. It is Utah Code Annotated 17A-2-32. However, a lie repeated enough times is often accepted
as truth, and those "statements" were repeated by 382 nonstop for a decade and a half. Keep this
in mind as we proceed, through this site, to organize ourselves. It begins with open discussion. We will do our best to
include your thoughts and ideas so that all can share in reaching our goals. Please share your civilized and reasoned
thoughts through our blog.
UTAH STATE STATUTE - COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND APPROPRIATE UNITS
Utah Code Annotated 17A-2-1031
UTAH STATE STAUTE - BINDING ARBITRATION
Utah Code Annotated 17A-2-1032
