Over six months later, Local 15 still has not adequate contacted these members nor found adequate job replacement for all. Above all else, all 15 men are still wondering if the union knew they were going to terminate us, why weren't they there to aided in the transition.
It is a hot summer day in New York, and Aaron, from Local 15, is at the park with his three children. Sounds of children playing tag, swinging on play sets and bouncing basketball fill the air. You can't help noticing the ice cream truck's jingle; children flocking liked a pied piper. One is 14 year old Billy and he asks his father, Aaron, for a few dollars to purchase a strawberry cone for him and a chocolate one for his 12 year old sister.
“No”, swift but stern but Billy quickly retorts “But Dad!” All it takes is one look from Aaron to cease the pleas. Billy returns to the basketball court. Moments later, a cute young girl adorned in pink and purple beaded bracelets marches over and asks “Dad, can I get some ice cream for me and Billy?” Aaron can't shrug off his daughter's girlish charm, so he breaks down and disappointedly explains that he doesn't have the money to afford two ice creams.
Aaron is just one of the many who lost their job on September 7th, 2007 at Atlantic Detroit Diesel-Allison (ADDA). He applied to other union jobs shortly after his dismissal, but when faced with the question “where did you work before?” he found more and more people were reluctant to hire him. He said that other companies were aware of the scandal at ADDA and speculated that it was all premeditated. Aaron didn't want to apply for unemployment, at first, because he felt his skills would land him a job. He called his union representative for help in the job search but was only able to reach voice mails. He documented his calls in his calendar and started to draft his resume.
Another terminated co-worker suggested that they all contact an attorney. He, too, was plagued with disappointing rejections at other union jobs, all speculating that this was premeditated. So he and the others pursued his former employer. Once International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 15 was contacted by their attorney in mid-October, the Union finally decided to step in and attempt to provide representation for the workers.
When I asked the remaining 14 for their opinion on what transpired on that grim September day, they all collectively said the delay by the union and the lack of courtesy by their representatives had already left a bad taste in their mouths. The Union was supposed to respond by an agreed upon date, with reports from their own internal investigation; but the outcome was bleak. The union failed to respond to questions regarding allegations of their prior knowledge of a mass layoff. So what happened at ADDA that would result in such a massive layoff of well-qualified and seasoned technicians? Since ADDA and the Union failed to respond, the workers recount.
According to the former employees, a major and much-needed campaign was awarded to Atlantic Detroit Diesel-Allison in Lodi, New Jersey in mid-Spring 2007. It required two technicians to work outbound throughout New York City boroughs fixing New York City Board of Education buses. With school almost out, management and coordinators projected that the bus campaign would be finished before school commenced in late August. The project began in May but the plans changed in late June, early July. It seemed that the original projections were off because the plans failed to consider the lack of materials and tools needed while away from ADDA's New Jersey depot. This caused major delays and a back-up of buses completed. So ADDA and the Board of Ed mutually agreed to allot more technicians to speed up the project, or at least get it back on track.
By summer, the two man team became a 15-man outbound project; meaning 15 men would pair up, sent throughout New York City's various bus depots to find specific buses to fix. All this was required during their 7 am to 3:30 shift. ADDA reassigned the management of this project to a different supervisor than specified in Spring. This supervisor, Tommy, told the technicians if they continued on only a two bus per day routine, the project would not be executed on time. Therefore, Tommy instructed the technicians to work throughout their shifts fixing as many buses as possible without lunch. The technicians warned Tommy that there was not enough time to take government-mandated lunch, fix as many buses as possible, combat traffic in and out of the bridges, tunnels and tolls all while arriving back to Lodi, New Jersey by 3:30 pm. {Anyone who drives to New York will know that 7-8:30 is peak time for morning rush hour traffic. Also driving a commercial truck with restricted tunnels and bridges and checkpoints since 9/11 doesn't help either.} Tommy then retorted, “Don't worry about the time cards, I'll take of that.” So the 15 men team continued as instructed. When asked what time did they normally arrive at home depot {Lodi, New Jersey} each day on this project, they replied between 5 and 7 pm depending on traffic.
