2022-06-02 Union Release Time Pay Report

As I despise the secrecy and cronyism at Local 308, I want to stay far away from being accused of it. One thing business unionists hate the most is when they are asked questions about how they spend our money. So to avoid you needing to question me, I will just inform you about everything.

I hate that so many of us abuse the privilege of release time from work for favors. Even though officers are supposed to report what they do when paid by us, it rarely happens. 

This article is my report to you—my coworkers—and members of Local 308. I also emailed the report to the Vice Presidents and the President.

With the cooperation of Vice President Mark Weems, I was released from working at the CTA on June 2nd and was paid my Rail Car Repairer rate of $38.80 per hour for 8 hours. 

My task was to promote and encourage Rail Car Servicer "Apprentices" to attend a meeting with myself and Brother Mark at the Local 308 office regarding working conditions. I also made a point of visiting See this article for details. Below is a report of my activities with approximate times.

18:00-19:00 Create and print 6/4 flier

19:00-23:00 Sleep

23:15-2330 Print extra copies of Attachment O, Grievance Forms and Complaint Forms

2330-0000 Commute to Rosemont (Bus 95, 95th Terminal to Lake Street, Washington Blue to Rosemont). Single track delays at California and Cumberland.

0145-0245 Met with exterior wash crew on break waiting for their next wash car in break area. Answered questions, gave copies of 6/4 flier, Attachment O, grievance forms. They are concerned about being FT and if the grievance is a cause of retaliation. Got feedback about working conditions from Repairers.

0310-0350 Commute from Rosemont to Kimball Shop on Blue Line and 81 Lawrence.

0350-0700 No Apprentices on duty at Kimball. Posted fliers about 6/4 in break-room and gave to a FT servicer who is sympathetic toward them. Listened to concerns, discussed solutions with about a dozen individuals at different times (Repair, Servicer, RTO, CA and Supervisor). Also discussed attending membership meetings, holding leadership accountable, etc. Alot of dissatisfaction was expressed. Explained the responsibility of union members. Gave grievance form to one.

0700-0750: Took break at Armitage for breakfast.

0750-0930: Visited two CAs on Brown and Red and listened to their concerns. One is furious about poor representation.

0930-1040: On my way to the union office from Jackson, a supervisor and other transportation coworkers approached me about deadly working conditions. I assisted them with using the Workplace Complaint form and we discussed strategies.

1040-1130: Commute from 95th to the union office. Took 112 bus to union office to submit my time-sheet.

Member interaction: 2 coworkers at 95th about 6/4. 4 Rosemont shop coworkers about union issues, including wage theft. Answered questions about membership from coworker at Jefferson Park. While en route to worksites, answered 3 members’ email, text and phone calls.

Takeaways: Organizing for the Second Chancers will take more than one night. There is tremendous distrust for union leadership and resentment regarding lack of information. Many believe that the officers are more sympathetic to CTA management than the members. 

Many members told me they do not like that they have no say in union affairs nor easy access to information. In some ways, they vented their anger on me—but I did not respond defensively. In many instances, I agreed and told them so. But I followed up with the importance of them taking initiative and utilize the membership meeting.

Suggestions: Establish a rigorous union education program, with ongoing weekly or monthly classes. These classes should feed into developing a large steward base with a steward to member ratio of 1:20.

Members seemed relieved and felt respected and cared for by just my presence and listening to them speak. In most cases, they knew the solutions to their problems already. They just needed a listening ear, get some information and encouragement.

Prioritize attention to organizing PT coworkers to use direct action on the job for FT jobs for all through the steward base. This will lift up the legitimacy of our union for all.

The Second Chancers are the most vulnerable because of the CTA management’s blatant violations of Attachment O, poor training, inferior PPE and chemical and exposure. Their own stigma of ex-felon status seems to draw an exceptional amount of disdain from management and some coworkers.

I thank VP Mark Weems for cooperating with me in this mission. I greatly appreciated serving the members and being compensated by the members for a lost day of work through our treasury. I hope this report inspires the reader to be more active in union affairs—and take ownership of what is theirs.