PA AFL-CIO Urges Governor Corbett and State Legislature to Show Same Commitment to Transportation Funding as Demonstrated Today by Pittsburgh's Transit Workers

HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder issued the following statement today urging Governor Corbett and the State Legislature to approve Transportation Funding now to demonstrate the same level of commitment shown today by members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85 in ratifying a transit saving contract.

"Today in Pittsburgh it was announced that Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85 ratified a transit-saving contract at a significant personal cost to every transit worker. In doing so, they forestalled the loss of 560 jobs and a 35% cut in transit service. Coupled with commitments the union made in its contract four years ago, Local 85 has made a public transit investment of $100 million in hard cash through wage and benefit cuts in less than five years," Bloomingdale said.

"Now it is time for Governor Corbett and the members of the State Legislature to do their part, not just for transit in Allegheny County but for workers throughout the Commonwealth. For more than a year the Governor has had on his desk, recommendations from his own Transportation Funding Advisory Commission (TFAC).  Thousands of jobs can be created serving to stimulate the economy and cut unemployment if the Governor would get behind a transportation funding bill this fall," he said. 

"The unselfish act on the part of the transit union workers is to be applauded. All shared in the sacrifice to do their part in maintaining a first-class public transit system that provides a vital resource to the community that depends on public transportation. The example of Local 85 in Pittsburgh demonstrates how workers are willing to do their part. It is time for the Legislature and the Governor to do theirs," Snyder added.

"While we may not agree with every recommendation made by TFAC, we believe it is an important framework to get things moving and do not understand why it has languished for more than a year," Bloomingdale added.

"Too often in this brutal economy born out of corporate and Wall Street greed, workers have been paying the price for the one-percent's recklessness. Public workers especially, have been called on to make sacrifices to fill in the gaps brought about by falling tax revenues resulting from the crippled economy," Snyder added. 

SOURCE Pennsylvania AFL-CIO