Beginning at 9:00 a.m. this morning, striking transit workers stood in line outside the Union Bank in Minneapolis to receive their first strike pay: $50 in cash from the strike fund of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005.
Next week, strike pay will begin coming from the workers? international union, which will provide a check of $150 weekly.
Only workers who are putting in their required picket duty are eligible for strike pay, said Dan Abramowicz, ATU 1005 executive board member and a Metro Transit bus operator for 11 years. Abramowicz wore a neon green strike marshal vest as he handed out a strike update to the workers waiting in line.
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| About 150 striking transit workers stood in line this morning at Union Bank in Minneapolis to receive their first strike pay. Minneapolis Labor Review photo |
During the strike, ATU 1005 members are required to perform a minimum of eight hours (two four-hour shifts) of picket duty to be eligible for strike pay, according to the ATU website.
Holding two-year old Alex, Erica Thomas was among the strikers waiting in line for her $50 strike pay. She also has a 10-year old child. ?It hasn?t been hard yet,? she said, adding that ?it?s going to be hard from now on.? She said she has taken Alex out of daycare.
A Metro Transit bus operator only since November 2003, Thomas expressed concerns about changes in her health insurance if the strike drags on for some time. ?I hope it doesn?t last more than a couple of weeks more,? she said.
?I know of a family where both husband and wife work for Metro Transit,? Thomas said. ?They?re really going to have a hardship. The wife ended up getting apart-time job but that?s not enough to support the family. They have a kid with special needs so they really need the insurance.?
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| Erica Thomas, a Metro Transit bus operator since November, waited in line for strike benefits with her two-year old son Alex. Minneapolis Labor Review photo |
Beginning at 9:00 a.m. this morning, striking transit workers stood in line outside the Union Bank in Minneapolis to receive their first strike pay: $50 in cash from the strike fund of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005.
Next week, strike pay will begin coming from the workers? international union, which will provide a check of $150 weekly.
Only workers who are putting in their required picket duty are eligible for strike pay, said Dan Abramowicz, ATU 1005 executive board member and a Metro Transit bus operator for 11 years. Abramowicz wore a neon green strike marshal vest as he handed out a strike update to the workers waiting in line.
| About 150 striking transit workers stood in line this morning at Union Bank in Minneapolis to receive their first strike pay. Minneapolis Labor Review photo |
During the strike, ATU 1005 members are required to perform a minimum of eight hours (two four-hour shifts) of picket duty to be eligible for strike pay, according to the ATU website.
Holding two-year old Alex, Erica Thomas was among the strikers waiting in line for her $50 strike pay. She also has a 10-year old child. ?It hasn?t been hard yet,? she said, adding that ?it?s going to be hard from now on.? She said she has taken Alex out of daycare.
A Metro Transit bus operator only since November 2003, Thomas expressed concerns about changes in her health insurance if the strike drags on for some time. ?I hope it doesn?t last more than a couple of weeks more,? she said.
?I know of a family where both husband and wife work for Metro Transit,? Thomas said. ?They?re really going to have a hardship. The wife ended up getting apart-time job but that?s not enough to support the family. They have a kid with special needs so they really need the insurance.?
| Erica Thomas, a Metro Transit bus operator since November, waited in line for strike benefits with her two-year old son Alex. Minneapolis Labor Review photo |