On September 22nd, a two-thirds majority voted to join the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 993.
As of November 30th, their employer Herzog Transit Services Inc. (HTSI) has yet to formally recognize their union: HTSI is still making terminations and policy changes without ATU’s consultation.
Dangerous Work Conditions
Oklahoma County has been a hotbed for Covid-19 infections – with 9,284 confirmed new cases over the last 14 days.
Over the course of the pandemic, at least 5 of the 39 currently employed street car operators have tested positive for the virus.
In fact, according to one employee, HTSI’s failure to inform their employees of when a coworker tests positive and observe proper safety protocols was instrumental in the operators’ decision to unionize.
Along with the failure to inform other employees when one of their coworkers tests positive, HTSI has not ensured that their employees have access to safe facilities: employees must rely on unkempt portable restrooms along their route for their bathroom breaks.
Other Grievances
Due to high turnover rates, employees are expected to remain on a 2 hour on-call notice during their time-off.
When operators need to take a restroom break, there’s usually no one to relieve them, and so they are ordered to keep the street car moving.
One worker cited long shifts with unusual lunch breaks, a clock-in time at 6am, lunch at 9am, clock-out time at 4pm, as one example.
Retaliation
Less than a week after the streetcar operators’ ATU vote, Darryl Williams, a vocal proponent of joining the ATU, was terminated from his job without any disciplinary warning or write-ups for using his personal cell-phone to contact management on his route.
HTSI’s PR Spin
A spokesperson for HTSI insists that their employees are like “family.”
But despite HTSI’s multimillion-dollar city-awarded contract, their refusal to communicate in a timely manner about Covid-19 workplace exposures, to provide access to safe restrooms for their staff, and to listen and coordinate with ATU Local 993 about employee terminations and policy changes before their first bargaining meeting on December 4th, who can believe that their rhetoric is anything but public relations spin?
What’s to be Done?
The ATU Local 993 will be meeting with HTSI for the first time on December 4th.
But in the meantime, as socialists, we need to continue to keep pressure on HTSI to honor the streetcar operators’ union vote and to reinstate Darryl Williams to his post.
We need to contact the OKC Modern Streetcar Subcommittee. Contact information can be found here: https://www.okc.gov/government/maps-3/projects/modern-streetcar-transit
Finally, we can offer mutual-aid to Darryl Williams and his family during this time. Darryl’s cashapp: $1215DEW0315
Let us never forget: An injury to one is an injury to all!
Leave a Reply