SMART-TD Intensifies the Push for Stronger Transit Safety Laws

It’s a disturbing trend that’s impossible to ignore: SMART-TD’s bus and transit operators face a growing risk for on-the-job verbal and physical attacks while our State Legislative Directors strategically fight to ensure that our members are protected to the fullest extent of the law.   

A Nationwide Effort with Local Implications 

Just this year, SMART-TD has secured stronger protections for transit workers in multiple states, including Maryland, Colorado, and California. 
 
Local Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of SMART-TD’s Bus and Transit Assault Prevention and Safety (BTAPS) Committee Cole Czub explains in a recent SMART News clip that his goal is to eventually expand the effort nationwide. 
 
“We eventually want to put together one bill that we can push forward to all the states as we’re going along trying to get more states to pass or eventually and hopefully a federal bill that will protect our members,” he said. 
 
Ensuring the safety of his members is a responsibility that Brother Czub doesn’t take lightly.  
 
“I think it’s very important for our members to see that at the end of the day, we’re not just punching off on a clock,” he explained. “We don’t sign off. We’re always doing what we’re doing as representatives for our members. We’ve got [members’] backs no matter what: at work, outside of work, whatever’s going on that we are there to stand with them.” 

Ensuring Equal Protection for Transit Workers

One notable example in the fight for stronger safety protections is HB 1877 in Massachusetts, which is focused on our brothers and sisters who work for Keolis Commuter Rail in Boston.  
 
Massachusetts has a law on the books protecting public transportation workers, elevating operators to the level of a police officer or first responder if they’re assaulted.  
 
Because Keolis is a private company, this law doesn’t apply to our SMART-TD brothers and sisters who work for them, excluding them from much-needed protections.   
 
Watch the SMART News clip below, where Brother Czub explains that a push is underway to change the law so that SMART-TD members who work for Keolis don’t fall through the cracks and are protected at the same level as their public employer counterparts.