AMALGAMATED TRANSIT UNION

10000 New Hampshire Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20903tel: 301-431-7100 toll-free: 888-240-1196

www.atu.org

Like all aspects of our Union, ATU-COPE is nothing without our members. To provide a strong political voice

for transit workers, we need your help!

ATU-COPENeeds Your Help

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Get Involved Today!ATU-COPE is your way to protect your job, your wages and your benefits. It helps defend the rights of working men and women and keeps you safe on the job.

Contributing to ATU-COPE is easy:

n If your local has a checkoff provision in its contract, simply sign the attached Checkoff Authorization Card to voluntarily authorize your employer to deduct an amount you specify from your pay each month for ATU-COPE.

n Contributions can also be made directly by check, payable to ATU-COPE and sent to:

10000 New Hampshire Avenue Silver Spring, MD 20903

THE VOICE OF TRANSIT WORKERS

“COPE helps us be heard”“This year more than ever we need to be heard. I give [to COPE] because it’s a way to help further the cause of public transportation and labor. It helps give us a voice, and help us work at supporting those office holders and candidates that are favorable to public transit. COPE helps us to be heard. It’s a continuing battle to make sure that public transportation stays a priority – if it isn’t a priority, we have to make it one with these politicians and candidates. This gives us a voice – and I’m a big believer in it, I’ve seen it work for us in Wisconsin.”

Dan Kane Local 519, La Crosse, WI above with President Dale Anderson and Wisconsin State Senator Jennifer Shilling.

“So we can look out for ourselves with the people we elect”“You can’t afford NOT to give – if you don’t, we won’t have a job two years from now. I’ve been here for 25 years and am grateful to have a good job with good benefits. I believe you’ve gotta give something back. We have to protect our union jobs so we can keep our benefits, take care of our families.  We gotta do our part. Every little bit helps – if everyone can give $2 or $3 a week then it can add up so we can look out for ourselves with the people we elect.”

Jerome Mood, Local 822, Patterson, NJ

As a transit worker, school bus employee or over-the-road bus worker, your job, wages and working conditions are directly linked to politics. Representatives in federal, state and local government make crucial decisions everyday that determine the amount of funding available to your transit system or school district, the safety and security requirements at your workplace, your bargaining rights, and more.

In the past year alone, we’ve seen funding for transit systems and school districts gutted, and private management companies brought in to ‘lower costs’ by laying off workers and slashing wages and benefits. The politicians who stand against us are trashing union members every day. This must be stopped! With your help, we can win the fight for working people, for better wages, for retirement security, for a fair economy, for fair taxes for mass transit.

As the largest transit worker Political Action Committee (PAC) in the United States, ATU-COPE is the voice of transit workers, school bus employees and over-the-road bus workers at all levels of government. Since by law, union dues cannot be used to fund political campaigns, voluntary member contributions to ATU-COPE are used to help elect pro-labor, pro-transit candidates for local, state and federal office. Once the election is over, ATU-COPE can help keep politicians accountable to the interests of our members.

A dollar-for-dollar match

This year, in light of the crisis facing our members, ATU-COPE will for the first time help ATU Locals launch progressive, grassroots, issue-oriented campaigns back home through a unique matching program. Imagine riders joining forces with their bus drivers, or mass demonstrations in front of the mayor’s office against service cuts and lay offs. These are just some of the things your local can do with a plan and the support of ATU-COPE.

ATU-COPE will return to each local every dollar contributed above last year’s contribution level for the purpose of conducting grassroots campaigns in their community targeted at restoring service, fighting privatization, and other campaigns aimed at getting our members back to work. Moreover, we are also matching the money sent back to each local, dollar for dollar. COPE is not only about supporting pro-transit and pro-labor candidates; it is also about mobilizing our membership to fight back in the streets.

Nothing will change with respect to longstanding policies. Up to 50% of the funds contributed each two-year election cycle by each local to ATU-COPE will be returnable that cycle on an “as needed” basis for contributions to state and local candidates. Locals may also suggest that a contribution be made to a candidate for federal office.

COPE-PLUS

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The ATU Checkoff CardIf your local has an ATU-COPE checkoff card system it’s easy to participate. Just fill out the card below and send it to your local.

THE VOICE OF TRANSIT WORKERS

“one way to fight back”“I contribute to COPE, even though I hate politics, because I know it’s important. Management is unfair, everything they do is at the cost of workers, and COPE is one way to fight back. Here in Pensacola, the COPE Plus program helped us raise money to get Veolia out of our town. We used the money to buy ads telling people what Veolia was really like. A lot of people don’t understand how COPE works, but it does.”

Maryann Stanton, Local 1395, Pensacola, FL