Durbin Meets With Amalgamated Transit Union, Discusses New Resources For Worker Safety

Press Release

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with leadership of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), which represents thousands of Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and Pace Suburban Bus workers, to discuss new safety measures included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to better protect transit employees while on the job. ATU has seen an increase in attacks on its members since the start of the pandemic, including a bus driver who was stabbed late last year. IIJA provides new worker protections, including joint labor-management safety committees and increased reporting requirements. Today's meeting included ATU International President John Costa, ATU Local 241 President Keith Hill, ATU Local 308 President Eric Dixon, and other ATU local leadership.

"Along with providing historic investments in our transportation networks, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law also includes critical protections for train operators, bus drivers, and other transit workers," Durbin said. "Increased incidents of workers being attacked while doing their jobs is heartbreaking and unacceptable. I will continue working with ATU, CTA, Pace, and others to ensure these new safety measures are quickly implemented."

IIJA requires transit agencies to:

Establish new safety committees, made up of an equal number of frontline employee representatives and management representatives, to identify safety issues and develop strategies to mitigate them.

Use a portion of their federal funds for safety-related projects developed by the committees.

Report all assaults on transit workers to the National Transit Database, which the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and transit agencies rely on in developing safety solutions.

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