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Finding Aid to the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 192 (Oakland, Calif.) Records
larc.ms.0327
larc.ms.0327
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Title: Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 192 (Oakland, Calif.) records
Date (inclusive): 1930-2004
Date (bulk): 1948-1986
Creator: Amalgamated Transit Union. Local 192 (Oakland, Calif.)
Collection number: larc.ms.0327
Accession number: 2005/032
Repository:
Labor Archives and Research Center
J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 460
San Francisco State University
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco, CA 94132-1722
(415) 405-5571
larc@sfsu.edu
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English.
Extent:
30.0 cubic ft.
(24 record cartons, 1 document box, 1 oversize box)
Abstract: This collection documents the activities of Local 192 of the Amalgamated Transit Union from 1930 to 2004, with the bulk of
the collection covering the years 1948-1986. The records provide insight into the activities of the union and its members,
as well as offering some documentation of working conditions and labor relations for transit employees. Highlights include
detailed grievance cases (Series 4) and arbitrations (Series 5) that reveal the relationship between the union and employers
as well as the evolving relationship between Local 192 and other transit unions in light of Section 13 (C). Strike files document
particularly revealing moments in the history of the union (Series 7), while subject files document what issues and information
the union was interested in (Series 7). Meeting minutes (Series 1), correspondence (Series 2), and union publications (Series
8) reveal the official policies of the union as well as its internal dynamics. Similarly, election files illustrate the internal
politics of the local (Series 10). The collection reveals some of the unique problems of transit unions working for publicly
owned employers like AC Transit and BART. Interestingly, during the span of this collection, Local 192 had only three main
bargaining relationships: with Key System and then AC Transit and BART. Another unique aspect of the collection is the effect
of the federal law on the bargaining relationship between union and employers, which is documented in many of the arbitration,
grievance, and legal cases in the collection.
Collection is open for research.
Artifacts, ephemera, audiotapes, and oversized material have been removed to the appropriate Labor Archives collections.
Photographs, housed in Box 25, are shelved with the Photograph Collection.
Identification of item], Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 192 Records, larc.ms.0327, Labor Archives and Research Center, San
Francisco State University.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives and Research Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote
from materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf
of the Labor Archives and Research Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
The Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 192 Records were donated to the Labor Archives and Research Center by the Amalgamated
Transit Union, Local 192 in November of 2005, accession number 2005/032.
Initial box listing and sorting of the collection performed in spring of 2006 by Jeff Rosen and Mitchell Yangson; processed,
arranged, and rehoused by Conor Casey in 2007-2008. Collection reboxed and folders renumbered in 2011 by Tanya Hollis.
History of Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 192
Local 192 of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), the first ATU local in California, was founded in Oakland in 1901. The Local
192's parent union, the international ATU, is today the largest transit workers' union in North America, including 273 locals
in the US and Canada.
The history of Local 192 is intertwined with its bargaining counterparts: Key System Transit, AC Transit, and Bay Area Rapid
Transit (BART). Key System Transit, which existed between 1903 and 1960, was a privately owned mass transit company that operated
streetcar and bus lines in the East Bay. In addition, Key System operated commuter rail and bus lines to San Francisco via
bay ferries and the Bay Bridge. Facing bankruptcy by declining ridership in the wake of the ascendance of the automobile and
the targeted campaign of General Motors to destroy public transit systems , local streetcar service in the East Bay ended
in 1948 and service to San Francisco ceased in 1958.
After this, AC Transit, a public transit system, took over much of the old Key System. AC Transit has its origins in a 1956
vote by East Bay citizens to form the publicly owned and operated Alameda Contra Costa Transit District, approving a bond
of $16.5 million that allowed AC Transit to acquire the bankrupt Key System from the California Public Utilities Commission
in 1960. Thus, ATU 192 became the bargaining representative for the employees of the AC Transit District; a bargaining relationship
that still exists today.
For a time, ATU 192 also represented workers at Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART). Public employers had not been covered
by the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, which affirmed the legal right of most American workers to form labor unions
and set up the National Labor Relations Board to oversee union elections and arbitrate disputes and grievances. By the time
of BART's formation, Section 13 (C ) of the 1964 Urban Mass Transportation Act required local transit union approval on federally
funded transit projects, guaranteeing collective bargaining for workers in systems like BART. ATU 192 argued that their members
should be allowed to "follow their work" onto the new system with all their union representation, seniority, contract wages
and pension benefits intact, negotiating such an agreement with BART and other unions in the Bay Area in 1968.The unions improved
their position by negotiating an interim preferential hiring agreement in early 1968.
Under this agreement, transit employees of existing systems would be given notice and have the first chance at jobs. However,
BART had already hired non-transit office and technical employees. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), claimed
a right to organize this group of unorganized workers.
A conflict ensued about which union should be the representative of BART employees between 1968 and 1972, when an arbitrator's
award under the Section 13 (C) agreement finally articulated the priority for filling BART jobs. Over a thousand employees
of existing systems made applications under the terms of the arbitrator's award, but by late 1973, only 73 of almost 600 eligible
ATU employees worked at BART. At this point, the SEIU threatened a strike if the priority hiring and recognition of seniority
under the arbitrator's award impacted the members it was organizing. ATU 192 and 15 other unions were forced into representation
elections for the BART system.
The ATU gained a partial victory through effective organizing, winning the operating sub-unit of five separate units and establishing
ATU Local 1555 to represent its members at BART. As a result, the SEIU won the right to represent maintenance and clerical
employees. Thus, ATU 192's relationship with BART ended except for multi-party arbitrations regarding the right to represent
workers on BART-affiliated bus lines. As of 2008, Local 192 represents 1,400 members, including workers in AC Transit.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection documents the activities of Local 192 of the Amalgamated Transit Union from 1930 to 2004, with the bulk of
the collection covering the years 1948-1986. The records provide insight into the activities of the union and its members,
as well as offering some documentation of working conditions and labor relations for transit employees. Highlights include
detailed grievance cases (Series 4) and arbitrations (Series 5) that reveal the relationship between the union and employers
as well as the evolving relationship between Local 192 and other transit unions in light of Section 13 (C). Strike files document
particularly revealing moments in the history of the union (Series 7), while subject files document what issues and information
the union was interested in (Series 7). Meeting minutes (Series 1), correspondence (Series 2), and union publications (Series
8) reveal the official policies of the union as well as its internal dynamics. Similarly, election files illustrate the internal
politics of the local (Series 10). The collection reveals some of the unique problems of transit unions working for publicly
owned employers like AC Transit and BART. Interestingly, during the span of this collection, Local 192 had only three main
bargaining relationships: with Key System and then AC Transit and BART. Another unique aspect of the collection is the effect
of the federal law on the bargaining relationship between union and employers, which is documented in many of the arbitration,
grievance, and legal cases in the collection.
The collection is arranged in 19 series, arranged depending on their creator, format, or function. Subseries are subdivided
similarly. Within a series or subseries, files are arranged chronologically with the exception of subject files, which are
arranged alphabetically. Due to the lack of organization and mis-identification of some of the original records, there is
some overlap between series. For example, "General Correspondence" may include some materials that might be better suited
for "Officer's Correspondence" had the collection been in a more discernible original order.
The series are as follows:
SERIES 1: Board and Committee Minutes, Agendas, By-Laws, and Resolutions, 1948-1997
SERIES 2: Correspondence, 1948-1996
SERIES 3: Contract Negotiations, Agreements, and Memoranda of Understanding, 1930, 1948-1986
SERIES 4: Grievances, 1960-1992
SERIES 5: Arbitrations, 1947-1989
SERIES 6: Legal Files, 1944-1996
SERIES 7: Office Files, 1953-2004
SERIES 8: ATU Local 192 Publications, 1949-1994
SERIES 9: Conventions, Conferences, and Meetings, 1969-1985
SERIES 10: Elections, 1966-1993
SERIES 11: Pension, Insurance, Health, and Benefit Plans, 1945-1993
SERIES 12: Financial Records, 1946-1998
SERIES 13: Legislative Reports, 1977-1991
SERIES 14: International Amalgamated Transit Union Publications, 1966-2001
SERIES 15: Publications of Other ATU Locals, 1944-1952, 1980
SERIES 16: AC Transit Materials, 1961-1997
SERIES 17: BART Publications, 1968-1972
SERIES 18: Key System Transit Materials, 1953, 1960
SERIES 19: Photographs, 1915-1994
The following terms have been used to index the description of
this collection in the library's online public access catalog:
Bus drivers--California--San Francisco Bay Area.
Labor unions--California--Oakland.
Local transit--California--Oakland Region.
Transport workers--Labor unions--California--Alameda County.
Transport workers--Labor unions--California--Contra Costa County.
Transportation--California--San Francisco Bay Area--History.
Amalgamated Transit Union. Local 192 (Oakland, Calif.)
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (Calif.)
Key System Transit Lines (Calif.)
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (Calif.)
Golden Gate Transit.
Additional information about mass transit in the San Francisco Bay Area Region and the Oakland local of the Amalgamated Transit
Union, and the International Amalgamated Transit Union may be found in the following resources. This bibliography also contains
sources charting the development of mass transit systems in urban America and the effects of federal government policy on
the development of mass transit systems:
Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District.
AC Transit District History.
Oakland, CA:
http://www.actransit.org/aboutac/history.wu; Alameda Contra-Costa Transit District,
Accessed November 20, 2008.
Amalgamated Transit Union.
ATU 100 Years, 1892-1992: A History of the Amalgamated Transit Union.
Washington, D.C.:
A.T.U.,
1992.
Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1555.
ATU's History at BART.
Oakland, CA:
http://www.atu1555.org; Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1555,
2008.
Cudahy, Brian J.
Cash, Tokens, and Transfers: A History of Urban Mass Transit in North America.
New York:
Fordham University Press,
1990.
Foster, Mark S.
From Streetcar to Superhighway: American City Planners and Urban Transportation, 1900-1940.
Philadelphia:
Temple University Press,
1981.
Miller, John A.
Fares, Please!: A Popular History of Trolleys, Horse-Cars, Street- Cars, Buses, Elevateds, and Subways.
New York:
Dover Pub.,
1960.
Owen, Wilfred.
The Metropolitan Transportation Problem.
Washington, D.C.:
Brookings Institution,
1966.
Schrag, Zachary.
Urban Mass Transit In The United States.
http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/schrag.mass.transit.us; EH Net Encyclopedia,
May 8, 2002.
Smerk, George M.
The Federal Role In Urban Mass Transportation.
Bloomington, Ind.:
Indiana University Press,
1991.
United States.
The Industrial Reorganization Act: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Antitrust and Monopoly of the Committee on the Judiciary,
United States Senate, Ninety-Third Congress, Second Session on S. 1167.
Washington, D.C.:
U.S. G.P.O.,
1974.