Two States, One Fight - New York & New Jersey ATU Leaders Rally in Atlantic City
International President John Costa returned to his home state, addressing members at the joint New York/New Jersey Legislative Conference Board meeting in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The gathering brought together Locals from both states at a moment when transit workers are facing coordinated threats on multiple fronts, from the expansion of microtransit and autonomous vehicles to the ongoing fight over worker misclassification.
“Standing Together”
“New York and New Jersey don’t always agree on pizza, but they agree that transit workers deserve better,” Costa told the room. “Whether it’s the mechanic apprenticeship programs breaking new ground in Buffalo and Rochester, or the fight against AVs and microtransit trying to push our members aside, New York and New Jersey are showing what it means to stand together. Our Locals aren’t waiting for the future to happen to them. They’re building it.”
Building the Pipeline
Local 1342-Buffalo, NY, became the first ATU local in New York to establish a Registered Bus Mechanic Apprenticeship Program, and it’s now the model other locals across the state are working to replicate. Local 282-Rochester, NY, is following that blueprint directly, while Local 580-Syracuse, NY, has wrapped the pilot phase of its own mentorship program and is expanding into registered apprenticeships for both coach operators and mechanics. In New Jersey, a statewide bus operator mentor program piloted at Local 819-Newark, NJ, aims to achieve the same kind of expansion across every Local in the state.
Fighting on the Legislative Front
The threats Costa named are already playing out in both statehouses. In New Jersey, we helped win a $1.5 million fine against Via after a complaint to the state Department of Labor found the company misclassified workers, and Locals are now pushing to keep transit and school transportation excluded from a pending robotaxi bill while adding a dedicated AV fee. In New York, the Legislative Conference Board is working with the state AFL-CIO to keep autonomous vehicles from creeping into the commercial vehicle space, alongside a separate push to resolve the state’s non-domiciled CDL issue.
With apprenticeship programs expanding and legislative fights intensifying in both states, ATU Locals in New York and New Jersey are positioning themselves to lead, not just react, as the transit industry changes around us.
Two states, one Union, one fight.