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After three years without a revised contract, SMART-TD Local 1704 ratified a tentative agreement (TA) in Kansas City, Missouri, on Saturday with First Student. The 66-member local’s refreshed contract secured significant raises, the addition of one paid holiday and made it so that six years of seniority raised their members to the top of the pay scale, rather than the 16 years required in past contracts.

Preparation from SMART-TD bus union empowered Local 1704 leaders

Local 1704 negotiators General Chairperson Darryl Redmon, President Ethel Maze and Trustee Carol Johnson poses with Bus Department Vice President James Sandoval.

After months of negotiation, Local President Ethel Maze was quick to credit the preparation she and her team, including General Chairperson Darryl Redmon and Trustee Carol Johnson, received from Bus Department Vice President James Sandoval for their success. Maze said that in past negotiations, she had been in the room but wasn’t able to take the lead in getting her people what they needed. This time around, she could rise to meet the moment.

“James (VP Sandoval) spent an entire day with a group of four local officers and taught us things we never knew about how to advocate for our members,” she said. “Not only did this help in negotiating this agreement, but it also made me more effective in representing my members on the property in day-to-day operations.

Know your contract and stand firm

“Through my conversations with James, I found things in our agreement First Student has never honored. It empowered me to go into the office and stand firm, insisting on improvements to which we are contractually entitled. All in all, our team, along with VP Sandoval, put Local 1704 on a better track, and we provided a quality of life for our men and women that is better than our managers wanted us to believe was possible,” Maze continued.

SMART-TD succeeds in tense negotiations

Some of the members of Local 1704 pose for a photo after ratification of a contract July 20 that brought a three-year negotiation process to an end.

Negotiations came to a head when management called for an all-day closed-door session.

Sandoval attended the meeting and had high praise for the efforts and professionalism of 1704’s local officers.

“Maze, Redmond, and Johnson were an impressive team. It was obvious to everyone in the room that they had done their homework,” he said. “Sister Maze took the lead in the negotiations, and she left no doubt that she knew the contract, the rights of her people, and most importantly, that she had her finger on the pulse of what her brothers and sisters needed to achieve in this agreement.”

Preparation and hard work results in overwhelming support

The proud, 66-member local had not received a significant raise or a revised contract in three years. Their local negotiating team received overwhelming support by their brothers and sisters.  The July 20th vote ratified the tentative agreement with a resounding 97% approval.

LACMTA, SEPTA, CATS, Montebello, California, and other properties have won strong agreements, increased member safety, and operators and mechanics were brought back to work. While these large properties get large headlines, SMART-TD believes that, whether a local has 60 or 600 members, every member deserves the same training, representation and resources.

That’s how we fight, and why we win.

SKAGWAY, Alaska (July 31, 2023) — Members of the SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD) have voted in favor of ratifying a tentative agreement the union recently reached with the White Pass & Yukon Route (WP&YR).

The more than two-dozen unionized workers for WP&YR, the largest employer in Skagway and a tourist railroad serving thousands of visitors who come to the southeast Alaska town of 1,200, had been working since late 2017 without a new contract.

“This has been a hard-fought and long — nearly six-year — journey for our membership and our negotiating team,” said lead negotiator Jason Guiler, SMART-TD general chairperson. “Our members have spoken and are in favor of this agreement. After working through a pandemic and then dealing with the surge in both inflation and ridership as tourists have come back, they feel that the carrier has extended an acceptable offer.

“This is a prime example of how collective bargaining works. We look forward to serving riders aboard the WP&YR now that negotiations have been resolved!”

The new contract, effective Jan. 1, 2018, with a wage package that began upon ratification on July 26, 2023, includes a wage increase through the length of the nine-year agreement. It also prevented the carrier from eliminating the brakeman position.

“General Chairperson Guiler and the membership of our Local 1626 in Alaska who work for WP&YR should be very proud of what they’ve accomplished with this success,” said Vice President Brent Leonard, who assisted in the negotiating process throughout. “It proves what can be done when workers stand together for themselves. I congratulate them on an outstanding job!”

Bus operators of SMART Local 1715 in Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with a vote margin of 20 to 1.

The new contract for the operators for the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) calls for a significant wage increase, double-time for holidays and the additional holiday of Juneteenth. It also provides for night differential pay and an increase in the pension cap. There are also changes to the bidding of work process that favor operators who may be unable to bid when the process starts. All wage increases are retroactive to July 1, 2022.

“I would like to thank the negotiations committee consisting of General Chairperson Joseph Paglia, Vice General Chairperson and Local President Christy Kiser, Local Chairperson Stanley Valentine, Secretary & Treasurer Chris Johnson and Local Committee of Adjustment Secretary Sabrina White for their hard work and tireless effort to deliver a package that the members would accept,” SMART Transportation Division Bus Department Vice President Calvin Studivant said. “The negotiations took more than nine months to complete, but the committee stayed focused on the task at hand and they delivered.”