National Rail Car Consortium Meets in Cleveland, OH
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Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) and ATU Local 268 hosted the National Rail Car Training Consortium on October 26-29 in Cleveland, OH. Due to the pandemic, this was the first time the Consortium has been able to safely meet in-person in over two years. ATU Local 268 President William Nix, GCRTA’s Director of Training and Employee Development, Wendy Talley and Manager of Training, Rail Operations and Rail Maintenance, Ed Kawecki welcomed the group. At the meeting, 23 labor and management Subject Matter Experts worked on the development of a new course on Wheel Truing and the review of a recently developed course on Rerailing. The group was also able to review an eLearning module on Rerailing and attend a training session on the ITLC’s new LMS - Transportation Learning Network.
The week also included a tour of the GCRTA light rail facility and team building activities, which helped build strong camaraderie among Subject Matter Experts from all participating agencies. The Consortium will continue work on courseware development with its next webinar on Wheel Truing on Wednesday, November 17.
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National Rail Car Training Consortium, Cleveland, OH - 2021
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GCRTA facility tour led by Doug Schneider
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Jobs to Move America – November 4, 7:00 pm ET
A virtual event where we examine what it will take to unite labor rights and civil rights in the deep South. Learn how Jobs to Move America is successfully combining research, policy and community organizing to build a new worker movement in Alabama and beyond. Long written off as a region defined by segregation, oppression and white nationalism, the American South is facing a crossroads. Recent wins suggest that progress is possible—Georgia turning blue, community support of Amazon worker unionizing efforts—we are on the cusp of major, widespread change. But Georgia didn’t happen overnight; it was years in the making. Jobs to Move America is at the forefront helping to lead this change; we are fighting to win community benefits agreements that improve workers’ rights, and we’re catalyzing a new generation of young organizers. Will you join us in this fight for true democracy in the South?
Urban Institute – November 8, 3:00 pm ET
As registered apprenticeship programs continue to grow in popularity, policymakers and practitioners must consider ensuring programs maintain high quality. Structured mentoring is a hallmark of registered apprenticeship and requires further exploration to understand its challenges and best practices. Mentors support, advise, and instruct apprentices on the job, directly affecting an apprentice’s learning and persistence toward completion. Leading into National Apprenticeship Week, join the Urban Institute, in collaboration with Opportunity America, for a virtual event on why mentoring matters. Hear from thought leaders, industry specialists, mentors, and apprentices as we discuss the challenges and practical implementation of mentoring for youth apprentices. In addition to a lively panel discussion, the event will feature a demonstration of Urban’s new mentoring tools designed to strengthen how youth apprenticeships are delivered.
Jobs for the Future - November 16, 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm ET
Apprenticeships for young people can be a key connection point into the world of work. These programs provide opportunities for people of all backgrounds to develop true careers with growth potential. How do we make earn-and-learn pathways a more common and equitable option for all 16- to 24-year-olds across the country? Join this National Apprenticeship Week virtual event to discuss the promise of apprenticeship for in-school and out-of-school youth, and learn how leaders across the United States are implementing and expanding these programs in their schools, regions, and states. This event is open to anyone interested in youth apprenticeship. Attendees will hear about how apprenticeship is being advanced at the federal and state level, how states are using those opportunities to create and expand youth apprenticeship programs for in-school and out-of-school youth, and how partnerships help to build and sustain Registered Apprenticeship for young people.
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The Verge – November 1, 2021
There’s more at stake than good buses and trains. The recent report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirms that a hotter, wetter, more inhospitable future is all but certain. The transportation sector is responsible for nearly a third of greenhouse gases, most of which come from tailpipe emissions. High-quality mass transit can do a lot to fight climate change, but only if people are willing to use it. Cleaner air, a cooler Earth, more vibrant and diverse cities — these are the things that reliable public transportation can give us. The question is not whether public transportation can survive Covid; it’s whether we can survive without public transportation.
Metro Magazine – October 28, 2021
After years of the automotive industry promising fully autonomous vehicles at Level 5 operation with no human input or guidance, the reality is that vehicles themselves, and the infrastructure to support that level of autonomy in society, aren’t quite there yet. And won’t be for quite a few years.
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The Philadelphia Inquirer – October 29, 2021
Members of Transport Workers Local 234 will get 3% annual raises in each of the two years of the contract, as well as a one-time pandemic hazard bonus of one dollar for each hour worked between March 15, 2020, and March 15 this year, to a maximum of $2,200. They also won paid parental leave. “I am very pleased that we were able to come to terms without a strike,” said TWU Local 234 President Willie Brown. “Our members are essential workers who move Philadelphia and who have risked their lives, putting their own families at risk, during this pandemic.”
NJ.com – October 20, 2021
Its board of directors is poised to vote on a $9.4 million contract with New Flyer of North America to buy eight “zero emissions” battery-powered electric buses and parts on Wednesday night. How that small number of electric buses performs will guide decisions that could put more than 1,000 other electric buses on state roads. The buses will be used on a much-publicized pilot program in Camden operating from the Newton Garage. That will allow NJ Transit officials to evaluate their performance and use that data to determine how to ultimately deploy electric bus purchases throughout its sprawling bus system.
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The Washington Post - October 31, 2021
Factory workers, nurses and school bus drivers are among the tens of thousands of Americans who walked off jobs in October amid a surge of labor activism that economists and labor leaders have dubbed “Striketober.” The strike drives, experts say, stem from the new leverage workers hold in the nation’s tight job market: Having seen the massive profits their companies collected during the coronavirus pandemic, they want their contributions acknowledged in the form of better pay and working conditions.
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NPR - October 30, 2021
You probably heard about that proposal by Senate Democrats to tax certain assets of billionaires to help pay for President Biden's spending plan. You probably also heard that that was one of the ideas that did not make it into the compromise announced on Thursday. It was stripped out along with popular and controversial provisions, like free community college and paid family leave. And it also came after some of the world's wealthiest people turned thumbs down, calling it stupid and possibly illegal. But Emory University law professor Dorothy Brown, who has written extensively about the tax code, says it is none of those things.
Streetsblog – November 1, 2021
Among the sectors that survived the slashing with no or only minimal funding reductions was transit. A program focused on boosting high speed rail expansion retained the full $10 billion promised in the last version of the bill, while the now-$9.75 billion Affordable Housing Access program, which most advocates expect to primarily benefit transit agencies, lost only a small fraction of its initial funding of $9.9 billion.
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Building Transportation Infrastructure
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Forbes – October 29, 2021
Connecting infrastructure projects with good jobs for local workers would not only help this country rebuild, but have a positive impact on regional economies. We must unleash the power for cities and states to create good jobs for all with federal funds.
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Metro Magazine - October 29, 2021
The program, whose module development leveraged existing programming from NFI subsidiary Motor Coach Industries (MCI), is intended for expansion and launch across NFI’s other major manufacturing facilities in future. The purpose is to provide entry level training for new employees, to help existing employees upskill and reskill through the industry’s accelerating transition to zero-emission propulsion and the increased demand for advanced zero-emission bus (ZEB) manufacturing, and to serve as a skills development pipeline to help employees reach the Senior Electrical Technician role. It includes five preparatory modules and two levels of training. Training levels include “Red” and “Blue,” respectively, indicating Electrical Technician 1 and Electrical Technician 2, which are earned upon training completion.
Institute for Work & Employment Research - October 22, 2021
MIT Sloan Professor Thomas A. Kochan will be launching an innovative new online class to help train labor representatives to negotiate about technology and its impact on the future of work. This class, “Bringing Workers’ Voice into Technology and Employment Strategies,” will be offered in partnership with the AFL-CIO Technology Institute and is slated to begin later this fall.
Hechinger Report - November 1, 2021
Young adults from low-income families appear to be lured away from school by rising wages and the need to support their families through hard times, Shapiro explained. With nationwide labor shortages, hourly pay for the average worker was up 4.6 percent in September 2021 compared to a year earlier.
National Skills Coalition – October 28, 2021
Postsecondary education and training have become essential to the economic mobility of working adults of color, particularly those most impacted by the economic crisis, such as workers of color, immigrants, and workers with a high school diploma or less. State leaders have recognized the critical importance of postsecondary attainment in meeting equity and economic goals. Credentials are a key component of state postsecondary attainment goals and economic recovery responses, helping workers earning low wages obtain better jobs in expanding sectors and serving to reconnect them to further postsecondary education and training opportunities.
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Greater Greater Washington – October 29, 2021
Some US cities are already experimenting with ways to get some mega-vehicles off the roads altogether, including bans on semi-trailer parking in urbanized areas, e-cargo bike pilots that replace package delivery trucks in the downtown core, two-wheeled emergency service vehicles that can supplant full-scale ambulances for calls that don’t need to transport passengers, and more. But when it comes to big autos that must remain on neighborhood streets, like buses, better vehicle design standards are key — and cities can’t afford to wait until the federal government starts requiring them.
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The New York times – October 28, 2021
The National News – October 20, 2021
Cities around the world are emerging from lockdowns into gridlocks as road traffic returns to pre-pandemic levels, according to the Secretary-General of UITP, the International Association of Public Transport, Mohamed Mezghani. Without a revolution in mass transit, Mr. Mezghani says that people will have to abandon hope of the quieter future glimpsed under coronavirus restrictions, when streetscapes were reclaimed for exercise, dining and enjoying urban environments. “Public transport is experiencing a paradoxical situation: on the one hand, there’s a consensus on its essential role in providing mobility for all, but, on the other hand, most policymakers don’t see its benefits for society, the economy and the environment,” Mr. Mezghani told The National.
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Fast Company – November 2, 2021
It’s become a cliché: Like it or not, autonomous vehicles are coming, and sooner than you think. What we want is unimportant, because technology drives history, and technology, we are told, has chosen autonomous vehicles. Satisfying needs has never been the point. We must reject the situation as it has been framed for us, and frame it for ourselves. It will help us to use the right tool for the job if we stop subsidizing the wrong tool so lavishly. Though public transportation is frequently condemned as a prodigal waster of public subsidies, it cannot begin to compete for this title with automobility. Even in congested areas, drivers seldom pay for the expensive road capacity they use. Their gasoline taxes cover only a fraction of the expense, and the payment is disconnected from the value of the road capacity used. “Highways do not—and except for brief periods in our nation’s history—never have paid for themselves through the taxes that highway advocates call ‘user fees,’ ” the Public Interest Research Group has reported.
The National News - November 1, 2021
The US has a record-high shortage of about 80,000 lorry drivers, data from the American Trucking Associations shows, as reported by CNN last month. Mr. Foxx, outgoing chief policy officer at ride-hailing company Lyft, said the “easiest, fastest integration of autonomous vehicles” is on long-range trips over major roads that “are not stop-go situations”.
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