The graphic above gives us concise understanding of how much little time has passed since the days of chattel slavery and legal segregation in the United States.
This should make you shudder at the reality that the Second Chance Program—along with all Part-Time jobs at the CTA—are fundamentally a degeneration of gains in human rights made by revolutionaries, abolitionists and countless ordinary people who sacrificed much.
These human beings have experienced some kind of severe social trauma linked to injustice—much of which is fostered by multi-generational disorder from slavery and segregation.
The blatant discrimination, harassment and cynical favoritism experienced by the Second Chancers—or so-called “Apprentices”—is not only exploitative, but it is destroying the foundation of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU).
The very Constitution of the ATU is clear about equality of each member. Moreover, our Obligation as members is to never replace another worker. Yet, the Second Chance Program does the very opposite.
Jobs that more Full-Time bus and rail Servicers and Janitors could be doing, are being done by fellow members who have virtually no benefits and at almost half the wage.
It is impossible for Second Chancers to live comfortably and with dignity. If anything, they live in fear.
So they stay silent as CTA mismanagement assigns them dangerous duties which violate the Collective Bargaining Agreement. They hope they will be “turned over.”
But most of them will never be made Full-Time—even if they have a clean record and apply for other FT and PT jobs at the CTA.
No matter how hard they work—and suffer—they are cast onto the streets like they were after dutifully serving time in the criminal justice system.
I have rewritten the section of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that covers the wages and working conditions for the Second Chancers. Please read it.
Our CBA expires on 12/31/2023. We can no longer move backwards. The Second Chance Program must change. Please SHARE and/or SIGN THIS PETITION now.