Grand Rapids Bus Drivers Fight to Save Pensions
Three hundred members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 836 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, are locked in a battle to save their pensions. Photo: Todd Brogan - See more at:
http://labornotes.org/2015/11/grand-rapids-bus-drivers-fight-save-pensions#sthash.c0ToKAND.dpuf
http://labornotes.org/2015/11/grand-rapids-bus-drivers-fight-save-pensions
November 03, 2015 / Dan DiMaggio
Three hundred members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 836 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, are locked in a battle to save their pensions.
Their employer, the Interurban Transit Partnership (known as the Rapid), wants to replace their pension with a defined contribution plan, a 457the public sector version of a 401(k).
Linking its pension struggle with the interests of bus riders, the union is also agitating to roll back a 16 percent fare increasewhich was implemented at the same time that the agencys CEO got a $4,000-a-year raise.
The Rapid tried to stop the union from leafleting at the citys main transit hub, threatening to discipline and even arrest workers. But the union filed a First Amendment lawsuit and won a preliminary injunction in federal court.
FULL story at link.