Originally published in Labor Today
Eric Basir is a union steward with the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 308 in Chicago working for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). He has been facing retaliation from the union leadership since January for attempting to work for the membership of the union and not the business unionists that plague many unions across the country. In doing so, he has faced harassment and intimidation from President Pennie McCoach, Vice President Mark Weems, and other members of the union. This investigation will document the timeline of Basir’s election, his removal from the Executive Board, and the ongoing retaliation against him by business unionist leadership.
In late 2023, Basir is running for a seat on the Executive Board of Local 308. Naturally, there would be an opponent running against him, but Basir finds out that both are running “unopposed” in the election. The difference being that the would-be opponent is now running for “assistant” Executive Board member. Basir wins his spot on the Exec Board and attends his first meeting on January 5th, 2024. In this meeting, there is an ongoing grievance with a single mother who is a train operator and got injured outside of work. She had doctors notes and documentation stating that she could not work and filed the formal process needed to ensure she would keep her job. However, the third party health administrator that CTA uses, Reed Group, stated they would not accept the mothers doctor note stating her condition. The mother pleaded her case to the board members, but the board voted to not arbitrate on the matter besides Basir and one other person.
Basir proceeds to talk with the mother and tells her the union will need to vote on arbitration at the general meeting. If that does not happen, then Basir stated he would file an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) against the CTA. The President and VP and other motion to remove Basir from the board meeting before he was even sworn in, because they claimed he violated a “code of conduct” even though there is nothing in the bylaws or constitution stating that he had broken any union law. The Executive Board reconvened afterwards and put charges against Basir for “violating a code of conduct” and proceeded to hold a vote at a future date, but were not able to press charges as a ¾ “yes” vote was needed. Still to this day, the union president refuses to provide Basir’s six days on union payroll for being a steward even as he fulfills his duties to the members of the union. This is an ongoing investigation, keep a lookout on Labor Today for more on the egregious attacks from the “leadership” of ATU Local 308.
