Akron Metro RTA strike on hold; international union taking over negotiations
A strike planned to start Monday by Akron Metro RTA employees who are members of Transport Workers Union of America Local 1 is now on hold.
The Transport Workers Union of America announced Friday afternoon that the union’s Akron local, TWU Local 1, did not give appropriate notice required to authorize a strike.
“A strike may prove to be necessary down the road, but there may be other options as well,” said Willie Brown, the director of the international union’s transit division who is in Akron this week. “The one thing I know for sure is service will be running on Monday.”
The national union interceded and placed on hold the possibility of the strike threatened for Monday. TWU Local 1 was placed in temporary receivership by a unanimous vote of the TWU International Executive Committee while an investigation is conducted.
According to the Department of Labor, a receivership is a form of trusteeship, with a suspension of autonomy imposed on a subordinate labor organization by a superior organization.
The Department of Labor said trusteeships are most often used to provide assistance to subordinates in difficulties, to assist in maintenance and stability and to promote rather than stifle union democracy.
A team from the international union’s office in Washington has been sent to Akron to investigate the violation and others reported by members of the Akron-based local union. The international union also has assigned staff to represent local members and to conduct negotiations with Metro RTA.
“Many of our members here in Summit County reached out to the international union concerned that the local union’s president is no longer employed by Metro. The strike authorization vote was administered improperly, and adequate notice was not provided to the international union in violation of the TWU constitution,” Brown said.
Transport Workers Union Local 1 President Rick Speelman and Secretary Treasurer Shawn Ervin were both fired in 2020 after an investigation by Metro. The union leaders were fired after the union president was accused of threatening managers, making offensive remarks about the Black and LGBTQ communities and having sexual conversations on phone calls during work hours.
But the union argues these and other alleged violations were only found when Metro was illegally “spying” on the president by reviewing videos from the bus, and that he and another union leader were targeted amid contract negotiations.
Metro union leaders fired: Metro fires union leaders amid allegations of threats, offensive remarks
The strike was scheduled to begin at 12:01 a.m. Monday, with picketing scheduled to start at 4 a.m. Monday.
Metro RTA did not provide a comment by the Beacon Journal's deadline Friday night.
The union and Metro have been negotiating for more than a year since the union's contract expired July 31, 2020. A federal mediator has been working with both parties since talks began.
Union members approved a strike authorization vote Sept. 11, Crystalynne Butler-Justers, union vice president and a bus driver since 1993, said in September. Strike authorization does not mean a union will go on strike; approval authorizes union leaders to call a strike if they decide one is necessary.
The union and Metro had not reached agreement on major issues such as pay, health insurance and more, she said in September.
The union earlier this month said it issued a notice of intent to strike starting Nov. 15.
Metro said it had provided the TWU a final proposal last week and asked for its membership to vote on whether to accept it. The transit agency has warned of service disruptions several times last month and this month due to a potential strike.
Tim Piatt, the union's attorney, said before the announcement of the international union takeover that he "learned suddenly that Metro’s position was not what we thought it had agreed to" on an issue related to holidays.
"[The] union’s position is that the employer reneged. The employer’s position is oh, no, we didn't," Piatt said. "But the fact of the matter is that today, their position is you have to agree to this language to get a contract."
Piatt said it was the union's understanding that on Nov. 3, Metro agreed to go with current contract language on the holiday issue and adhere to a memorandum of understanding on whether the current contract language allows Metro to schedule people to work holidays.
The issue is currently in arbitration, after Piatt said Metro required employees to work July 4th of this year and the union filed a grievance. Piatt said Metro had never previously worked six major holidays.
But Piatt said "yesterday, the employer changed that to say, no, we demand that you agree to this language. In order to get a contract, we demand that you agree to our language that we have full discretion to work holidays and then, of course, to order people to work the holidays. That's a significant, huge deal."
In 2020, Metro served 3,069,708 fixed-route passengers and 171,317 demand response passengers. But the transit agency said the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant effect on public transportation, and 2020 statistics don't accurately reflect typical travel patterns. In 2019, there were 5,298,230 fixed-route passengers and 276,328 demand response passengers.
According to Metro, the TWU Local 1 represents 71% of Metro team members, including 239 bus operators, 17 vehicle service employees, four vehicle detailers and 12 customer care representatives. Metro has a total of 378 union and non-union team members combined. Its 32 mechanics are represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local #348.
The transportation agency has encouraged riders to check for updates at akronmetro.org or Metro's Facebook and Twitter pages. Sign up for e-news alerts at bit.ly/3nC16Tk or call Metro's information line at 330-940-1236 for updates.
Contact Beacon Journal reporter Emily Mills at emills@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter @EmilyMills818.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron Metro RTA strike on hold; international union taking over negotiations
