Streetcar Workers Unionize

A streetcar operator on The Hop. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

The Amalgamated Local Transit Union Local 998 (ATU Local 998) has successfully organized the street car workers.

The City of Milwaukee’s street car system, called The Hop, is operated by TransDev, a French multinational transportation company. In November, a majority of 26 TransDev employees working out of the city’s streetcar facility at 450 N. 5th St. voted in favor of representation by ATU Local 998, according to National Labor Relations Board records.

The union includes operators, maintenance workers, road supervisors, operator supervisors and dispatchers.

The organizing process was relatively smooth, with little pushback from the company, said Bruce Freeman, ATU president. The union, which represents Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) bus operators and mechanics, already has a working relationship with TransDev as the bargaining representative for the county’s paratransit drivers. TransDev holds the contract with Milwaukee County for paratransit, which provides transportation for persons with disabilities.

The unionization drive last year was not the ATU’s first attempt to organize the streetcar. The union previously attempted to unionize the workers in 2020 in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. During that drive the union even filed unfair labor practice charges, according to NLRB records.

But the campaign went nowhere as internal disorder brought down ATU leadership in the fall of 2020. Following a physical altercation between former ATU president James Macon and another union executive, ATU international stepped in and suspended the union’s local autonomy, putting it under the control of two ATU trustees from locals in Madison and Minneapolis.

When ATU returned to the streetcar property in 2024, few of the workers were left from the campaign four years prior.

“So we had to start over from scratch,” Freeman said.

However, the new workers showed great interest in unionization.

“Those operators at The Hop, they actually reached out to us more aggressively than anything that I’ve dealt with so far since [becoming president in] July,” Freeman said.

They understand the union provides unity and strength for the employees in dealing with company management, Freeman believes. “Without that, I think that companies kind of do their own thing; they do basically what they want to do,” he said.

ATU and TransDev have begun setting dates for contract negotiations and the union is in the process of working with streetcar staff to determine what they want to bargain for in a contract. Freeman didn’t offer any specifics as the union is still waiting on the results of an employee survey, but said wages and work conditions are always at issue.

“We respect the rights of employees to organize and make decisions that they believe are in their best interest,” a spokesperson for TransDev said in a statement to Urban Milwaukee. “We look forward to continuing our tradition of constructive dialogue and partnership to ensure a productive and mutually beneficial relationship. Our priority remains providing excellent service to our community while supporting our employees and their well-being.”