Terrible Tiers & Paid Sick Leave

This guest blog article is by Brother Christopher Campisi, Local 308 Union Steward and Rail Car Repairer  

Not too long ago, I was at an event where I gave a  report about working conditions that keep ATU Local 241 and 308 members struggling. 

We have a multi-tier system of jobs at the CTA. That is, different workers receive different pay and benefits for doing the same job. For example Second Chance Janitors and Servicers, Customer Assistants, FTT Trackmen and Certified Train Operator FTT Flagmen. 

Tiers are union-busting tools for stingy employers. 

Tier 1 has a pension and wants to keep it.

Tier 2 has no pension and is encouraged to wager retirement in volatile, unmatched 401K plans. 

Employers like the CTA and others get new hires to believe that have a chance to advance to Full-Time Permanent position with a pension. The reality is non-pension (PTT and FTT) jobs have greatly increased in the past 20 years.

While workers with pensions retire, get fired or die, less of their jobs remain. Good pension jobs disappear and the burden of deductions on fewer workers fosters a workplace with people just looking out for themselves. 

Most of us, but not all of us realize that unity and solidarity are the keys to a successful union. The division of workers leads to activation of the survival nature within us. 

Instead of scattering into the bushes when the lion appears, we need to evolve into "badasses" who build and sharpen spears. Then work collectively to change the individual from being the lion's dinner to the group sitting with a grilled lion steak. Adding to our numbers FTP jobs—and less PTT and FTT—should be part of a plan for future victories.

While we organize to fight for a single FTP tier, we must secure Paid Sick Leave benefits for all of us. This was actually in our grasp, but it was waived in secret by our union presidents. See Article 15.13 in the 2025 Tentative Agreement. Also see the petition demanding Paid Sick Leave for all CTA workers.

Paid Sick Leave is totally different from Short-Term Disability. The only provision in our Contract specifically is for Short-Term Disability—even though it is cleverly called "7-Day Sick Pay." This requires all kinds of verification and cumbersome paperwork. With that is also punishment for "Excessive Absenteeism." Moreover, whether you take any days for pay or not, you will be written up.

After the first 7 days, the pay is very, very little (typical for any Short-Term Disability benefits):

Subtract the cost of benefits and taxes. You will have even less. 

The CTA's so-called "Enhanced Sick Leave" benefits is of no benefit to the workers. As shown in this comparison chart, it is actually a benefit to the managers who want to keep labor costs low. Writeups and termination almost always follow the union workers who get sick or hurt outside of work. 

As you can see above, there is nothing "enhanced" or beneficial to CTA union workers. In fact, compared to the managers, our "benefits" are degraded. 

Paid Sick Leave and a single Wage Tier are goals that we can—and must—fight to win. 

The opinions expressed by guest bloggers here or in Shop Talk newsletter are not necessarily the opinion or sanctioned policies and actions by Brother Eric Curtis Muhammad Basir, ATU Local 308 members, elected leadership or stewards. In the spirit of the First Amendment and the ATU Obligation, all CTA workers and supporters are welcome to submit content of any point-of-view for this blog. Real identities will be hidden upon request.