Liftline workers pledge to join UTU
SANTA CRUZ, Cal. -- A new bargaining unit of transportation workers will likely join UTU Local 23 at Santa Cruz, Calif., soon, as their employer has opted to recognize the UTU as their authorized representative.

A majority of the employees at Liftline, a division of Food and Nutrition Services, Inc., in Santa Cruz, signed authorization cards late last year requesting UTU representation.

After UTU General Chairperson Ian McFadden met with Liftline's Executive Director Sam Storey, the company agreed to recognize the UTU without the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) holding a representation election.

At their first meeting, McFadden said he informed Storey that the company could either recognize the UTU as the employees' bargaining agent, or wait for the results of an NLRB-sanctioned election.

Storey said he would recommend to Liftline's board of directors that the company recognize the UTU without the election, but added he was concerned about the wording on the "A" cards that the employees signed.

"He suggested that the employees may not have realized what they were signing," McFadden said.

"They knew what they were signing and attended the next board meeting to tell them so. I also prepared an NLRB petition for election and had it in hand at the board meeting to demonstrate that anything less than recognition would result in the UTU filing the petition the next day," McFadden told UTU News.

However, McFadden was informed the following morning that the company would recognize the UTU.

Liftline is a private, non-profit organization that began operating as a delivery service for Meals on Wheels. Current operations also include transportation to child care centers and Elderday, a senior activity center.

The company operates as a para-transit provider under contract with the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District, which budgets over $3 million annually for its para-transit services.

Seventy-two percent of the company's employees, which include drivers, dispatchers, schedulers, assistants and mechanics, signed UTU "A" cards, however, it has not yet been determined if all of the employees will join the bargaining unit. At UTU News presstime, Bus Vice President Bernie McNelis said that a survey of the employees had been completed and representatives of Local 23 were working on drafting a contract proposal.

"I would like to thank Chairperson McFadden and his committee for their effort in getting these employees recognized and for foregoing an election. I would also like to acknowledge Jim Harford for his assistance to Local 23," McNelis said.

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