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​“I have never attended anything like this!” was the day’s refrain, as 250 people from California and five other states attended Mentors In Motion: Inspiring Each Other and Building Community, the annual meeting of California Transit Works! (CTW) on January 27, 2024. This historic meeting was the largest gathering of public transit High Road Training Partnerships (HRTPs) in the country, featuring the leadership and voice of frontline workers themselves. The entire event was organized by current and former peer mentors/mentor coordinators and supported by CTW and its labor/management partnerships. 

​More than 70% of attendees were frontline transit workers – both current peer mentors, as well as frontline transportation and maintenance workers who were interested in peer mentoring, as well as issues such as conversion to zero emission buses (ZEB). They were joined by ATU and agency leaders of their agencies’ training partnerships, as well as ATU officers and agency managers at all levels. Special guest presenters included the US Department of Labor, the California Workforce Development Board, and community college deans. CTW was graciously hosted by the principal, counselor, and automotive instructor and students of Logan High School in Union City, CA. 

​ATU International Vice President Jim Lindsay, on behalf of International President John Costa, gave the official welcome, emphasizing the ATU’s commitment to promoting apprenticeships and workforce development for ATU members at every local in the US and Canada. Michael Hursh, General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District, and Jamaine Gibson, ATU Apprenticeship and Workforce Development Director, opened the plenary by speaking from the heart about why these public transit labor/management partnerships centering frontline workers are so meaningful and essential for the public transit industry.

​The morning’s highlight were presentations by each of the 16 labor/management partnerships from California, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Oregon, and Washington on their work and accomplishments to date. Participants included frontline workers and officers from ATU locals 192, 256, 265, 268, 757, 788, 1070, 1225, 1277, 1574, 1575, 1704, and 1756; as well as the ATU California Conference Board. Transit agency participants included GM/CEOs, managers, and supervisors from AC Transit, Sacramento RT, San Joaquin RTD, Santa Clara VTA, Cleveland RTA, TriMet, Eugene Transit, Metro St. Louis, IndyGo, Monterey-Salinas Transit, Riverside Transit, SunLine Transit, San Diego, SamTrans, Golden Gate Transit, OmniTrans, Foothill-Pomona, and King County Metro. 

The afternoon plenary kicked off with a peer mentor panel representing six US transit partnerships. Throughout the day, meeting attendees had multiple opportunities to network with their peers in productive small group workshops and caucuses on key issues and challenges facing transit labor/management partnerships and programs. The maintenance caucus had a special hands-on presentation by the James Logan High School automotive students and instructor, building the high school to career pathway in real life. The CTW Advisory Board also held a well-attended meeting, with both labor and management leaders committing to “be CTW” and assist their peers throughout the year as they work on their partnerships and programs. ​

The afternoon was devoted to each labor/management partnership working together to share what they learned and develop partnership “Commitment to Action” plans for 2024. As each partnership shared their Commitment to Action plans on stage to the rest of the meeting attendees, their enthusiasm was the perfect way to close out the day and carry us all forward into 2024!
For more information, please go to: www.catransitworks.org or rich@catransitworks.org