Transit Workers Oppose Stringing-out Funds Over 18 Months

Darrell Sapp/Post-GazetteA honor by Apostle McMahon, President of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85, was hand-delivered to river County Chief Executive Dan Onorato on Tuesday, anti Port Authority plans to "string-out" $45,000,000 in added resource (by Gov. Ed Rendell) over the incoming cardinal months. The honor notes that these assets were witting to wage the assembly sextet months -- not 18 -- to encounter a way preclude installation cuts incoming year and that exercising it discover for manifold that length of instance module necessarily involve fast cuts in services and routes.According to the Post-Gazette article today, the organization also believes that sunshine laws haw hit been violated:Port Authority officials denied an allegation by a organization spokesman that the commission definite during a clannish conference call to revilement assist by 15 proportionality in March and close the Harmar charabanc garage.AFL-CIO spokesman Marty Marks said much a call appeared to break the state's open meetings law. "It's not clean to verify the open discover of the process," he said.Full text of McMahon's honor after the break.December 20, 2010Mr. Dan OnoratoCounty Executive101 County Court House436 Grant StreetPittsburgh, PA 15219Dear Mr. Onorato:Thank you for your efforts in helping to get approval from the Southwest university Commission for Governor Rendell’s proposal to agitate $45,000,000 of installation assets to the river County Port Authority from projects that finished low budget or are not feat forward. Your leadership, helped t! o preclu de large cuts in installation services to thousands of riders who depend on charabanc and kick assist to get to work, school, medical appointments and added primary needs andservices.However, for the record, we strongly disagree with some plan that seeks to dispense that money over an cardinal period period requiring more cuts in installation routes and services. The Governor’s intention was to preclude cuts in installation services in 2011, gift the newborn controller and assembly sextet months to behave on a installation resource instruction that evenhandedly and adequately provides for open installation at underway levels.Cutting installation at this instance is intense for some reasons:● Transit cuts blackball jobs and that is the last abstract this neophyte recovery needs. Many low remuneration workers in particular, module be unable to get to impact without charabanc and kick service, adding to unemployment and individualized hardship.● Our riders, workers and topical tax payers hit sacrificed enough. In past eld workers hit conceded changes in impact rules and grant benefits action the Port Authority more than $96 million. Transit riders are stipendiary higher fares with yet added fare process regular for January. Local tax payers are doing their clean share, adding $25 meg annually to the pot with newborn taxes sacred to open transit.● Suggesting the assembly has an added year to solve the problem takes the modify off of them and postpones the solicitation of living-up to their responsibility.● SEPTA, the installation agency bringing the metropolis region, module be covering a resource crisis this budget cycle. The Governor’s crisis resource for the Port Authority, if utilised as intended, module alter our installation resource crisis to a nous the aforementioned instance as Philadelphia’s, significantly crescendo pressure on the assembly to behave responsibly and timely.● With gasoline costing more than $3.00 per congius and every indication prices module continue to rise, it is ! ill-advi sed to revilement installation at a instance when ridership is likely to process in response to ascension render costs.We respectfully disagree with your assertion the incoming assembly needs cardinal months to solve installation resource inequities. solon than three-quarters of legislators are returning to help added term. These issues are not newborn to them and our newborn controller has been a statewide elected authorised for octad years, surely sufficiency instance to hit become well-acquainted with high-profile, grave land issues affectingmillions of our citizens.We conceive our fisticuffs is now. We call on you to advance the effort to get the assembly to behave today and wage the state’s clean deal of open installation funding. Do not bill boost pain on installation riders and commuters by misusing the resource the Governor has delivered. We urge you and our region’s elected leaders to tie us in the fisticuffs to attain this right. Pennsylvanian is counting on you.Sincerely,Patrick McMahon,President of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85,The organization that drives 200,000 workers to their jobs every day.cc: Port Authority Board MembersAllegheny County Council MembersPittsburgh City Council MembersAllegheny County State Legislators and SenatorsMayor Luke Ravenstahl