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2026.3.24 CTW Statewide Maintenance Caucus Meeting

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2026.3.24 CTW Statewide Maintenance Caucus Meeting

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Attendees:

CTW: Russell, Dave, Deb, Sue, Rich H., Peter, Robert

ATU International: 3

RTA/ATU1277: Chris Vore, Vanessa

LA Metro: Lalo Salas, Thomas Haire

SJRTD: Chris Melton, Laura Ortiz

VTA/ATU265: Lisa, Steve, Zac, Ramon, Mike

Pomona/ATU1756: Carey Ellis, Gavino Romero

ITLC: John Schivone

SunLine: Mike Hayes

ACT: Kin Kyu, Goose, Robert Levy, Ben

UCLA: Sarah Thompson

Updates:

SJRTD - Has 5 hydrogen buses.

VTA - Has Overhead Line class going on and is working on finalizing Service Mechanic Program.

Pomona - 33 Hydrogen buses (FC85), 1/3 of fleet is hydrogen

RTA - Awaiting on first hydrogen bus; What does a mechanic need to work on hydrogen buses;

Comments:

Discussion-High voltage suits

The 2040 mandate feels unattainable

More critical thinking needed to fix Zero Emission Buses

Management mistreating the zero emission buses, treating them like diesel buses.

Would like to hold the Maintenance Caucus every other month

Would like an in person Maintenance Caucus meeting in June.

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April 9, 2026 Attended the graduation of the 7th cohort of the teriffic Sonoma-Main Bus Operator Pre-apprenticeship Program. This was the first cohort that has been run since Santa Rosa Junior College picked up the program since CAI funds have run out. This cohort has PERFECT ATTENDANCE: During the weekly class fand three all-day Shadow Days for 12 weeks NO ONE missed a single class!

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2026.2.4  Maintenance zoom meeting with SJRTD

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2026.2.4  Maintenance zoom meeting with SJRTD

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Attendees: Chris Melton(Sup.), Laura Ortiz(Sup.), Rich D., Eliseo, Kevin, Robert

*H1b FEE training for mechanics and services in April (10 participants)

*SJRTD has 24 Mechanics Total

*3 new hires/2 promotions to B mech./1 promotion to A mech.

*meet every 2 weeks with Chris and Laura in prep for FEE and Mentor training

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2026.3.31 Maintenance Caucus Debrief Meeting on 3-24-26 meeting

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2026.3.31 Maintenance Caucus Debrief Meeting on 3-24-26 meeting

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Would like to have more frontline workers at the Maintenance Caucus Meetings.

Reach out more to management, coordinators, ATU Leadership.

Incorporate this caucus meeting into the frontline workers work.

Get maintenance involved to lead the meeting. Find champions to lead.

Have a maintenance mentor follow up training.

Follow up with maintenance workers on meeting, what did they think, what would they like to see more of.

Schedule: June 6th In Person Maintenance Caucus Meeting

Location:AC Transit Training Center

6 hours - 8am-2pm

Hear from more frontline workers.

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2026.4.6  San Joaquin Driving Force Partnership (ATU 256 & SJRTD) Maintenance Utilities Worker Mentor Training		

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2026.4.6  San Joaquin Driving Force Partnership (ATU 256 & SJRTD) Maintenance Utilities Worker Mentor Training		

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April 6, 2026 — We’re proud to welcome four new Maintenance Mentors from the San Joaquin Driving Force, a partnership between San Joaquin Regional Transit District and ATU Local 256. Karl, Michael, Izaak, and Olabode are the first Service Workers to step into mentor roles at San Joaquin RTD and ATU Local 256.

The new mentors successfully completed their training today, led by Eliseo Acosta, Rich Diaz from ATU International (Amalgamated Transit Union), and Robert Hannibal from CTW (California Transit Works). Throughout the session, Karl, Michael, Izaak, and Olabode showed great enthusiasm and contributed to meaningful discussions on what it takes to be effective mentors.

Congratulations to Karl, Michael, Izaak, and Olabode on this exciting achievement!

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visited HARTNELL COLLEGE diesel technology electrical class yesterday! The class had 25 students and I asked my traditional question how many of you like electrical? I got zero hands that were raised which is not unusual. I spent the day working with the students asking questions as I went along. There are still many gray areas regarding electrical electronics troubleshooting!

I would love to do a workshop with the students and instructor

sharing electrical electronic training best practices!

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2026.2.18. Maintenance zoom meeting with SJRTD

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2026.2.18. Maintenance zoom meeting with SJRTD

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Attendees: Chris Melton Laura Ortiz, Kevin, Rich, Robert.

Set dates for FEE training, April 1st & 2nd.

They have 3 circuit board trainers and wanted to know if they could be used for training and if Russell had any training material that would work for a training class using them.

Robert-send maintenance mentor material for Chris and Laura to review.

Asked if Chris or Laura were part of the SJRTD Partnership meeting, they are not. They were unsure if John VanDecamp was.

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2026.1.13 Call with Emmanual Mora (ATLAS Partnership Coordinator)

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2026.1.13 Call with Emmanual Mora (ATLAS Partnership Coordinator)

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1. Emmanual had questions on Ride-Alongs(how are they done, how many, when are they done) and the paperwork for Ride-Alongs that other mentor programs have used. I sent over to Emmanual JWI and SJRTD mentor program Ride-Along paperwork and shared what their process for Ride-Alongs are.

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Emmanual requested the Mentor training power point so they could prepare to do more mentor training in March 2026.

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A Fundamentals of Electrical Electronics Training was held at ATU Local 1277's Union Office. 4 Mentors from LA Metro/ATU 1277's FMAP Program (David, Daniel, R.G., Kevork). The FMAP Coordinator, Claire and Anna from LA Trade Tech (Partnership College) was there to see the training as well. The course was taught by Russell Anderson and David Lawhorn, joining them from ATU International was Eliseo Acosta and Rich Diaz.

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2026.1.15-16 FEE Training at ATU 1277's Union Office

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2026.1.15-16 FEE Training at ATU 1277's Union Office

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A Fundamentals of Electrical Electronics Training was held at ATU 1277's Union office. ATLAS Partnerships (SunLine/ATU1277) Maintenance Mentor Drew was present for the 2 day training. The course was taught by Russell Anderson and David Lawhorn, joining them from ATU International was Eliseo Acosta and Rich Diaz.

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A Fundamentals of Electrical Electronics Training was held at ATU 1277's Union office. RAMP22 Partnerships (Riverside Transit Agency/ATU1277) Maintenance Mentors Carlos, Dosty and Daniel were present for the 2 day training. The course was taught by Russell Anderson and David Lawhorn, joining them from ATU International was Eliseo Acosta and Rich Diaz.

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2026.1.26 call with President Joanne Barnes

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2026.1.26 call with President Joanne Barnes

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1. Looking into brining Michael, one of the mentors, in to help Jose with coordinating the RWK Mentor program since Jose, the current coordinator is also the FRS for ATU 1704.

2. They have been losing people lately to attendance.

3. Denise, the Coordinator on the management side has been out since December 2025.

4. Joanne would like to start moving the program towards an apprenticeship.

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1. Jose gives the mentor presentation to the new operators. Describing what the mentor program is about and how it helps the new operators

2. Denise has been out since Dec. 2025. The December class did not get a mentor assigned or a Ride-Along.

3. Both Jose and Denise did the assigning of mentors to mentees.

4. Since Denise has been out so long, AGM Vicky Reed is assigned to helping assign mentors to mentees with Jose. They will be assigning the Dec. and Jan. classes on 1-29-26.

5. On 1-24-26 Jose had a meeting with 2 of the mentors.

6. Add AGM Vicky Reed to the CTW Management Caucus Meetings

7. Set up Zoom meeting to introduce Vicky to the mentor program with Jose, Robert (CTW) and Rich (ATU).

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2026.1.29 call with Vincent Millan (PTAP Coordinator)

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2026.1.29 call with Vincent Millan (PTAP Coordinator)

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1. December was a slow month with all the holidays.

2. Still working on Curriculum for Maintenance Apprenticeship Program and work on agreement with management on who the instructor will be.

3. They currently have 4 mentees assigned to mentors and Vincent is finding out how some mentors and mentees do not always connect and having to move them around to other mentors.

4. They only have one mentor at night for 4 mentees.

5. Vincent(Coordinator), Ray(Co-Coordinator) and Robert(Mentor) will be at the International Roadeo in Salt Lake, Utah on May 6th-8th.

6. VP Carey Ellis working on setting up an H1B meeting with Keolis Management.

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2026.2.3 - call with Seannice Archie (RAMP22 Coordinator)

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2026.2.3 - call with Seannice Archie (RAMP22 Coordinator)

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1. Seannice has been working on updating their VTT presentation. She will be giving the 1 hour presentation March 1st-7th and calling on mentors and mentees in the classes to help out.

2. In July 2026, RTA will be bringing over the Community bus operators and mechanics to RTA. 58-60 from the private company and another 50 from the outside.

3. Each of the community bus operators and mechanics will get a mentor to help out with transitioning to RTA.

4. Kristin said Seannice would get more office hours starting in July 2026 as the new community bus operators and mechanics start coming over.

5. RAMP22 will bring on more mentors to from the community bus operators, at least 10.

6. they currently have 3 mentors in maintenance:

1. Vanessa for Servicers and mechanics (new services and mechanics train with Vanessa for their first 2 days)

2. Bruce in Parts-has one new mentee.

3. Allen in Facilities has 4-5 mentees. (Allen came from Stops & Zones and will cover mentees in that area as well)

4. They would also like to add more maintenance mentors at the Hemet Yard.

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*ATU 1756 having issues getting funds from agency from expansion grant reimbursements

*They are relying on Rich D. and Robert to connect them with DAS and DOL.

*Scheduled a meeting for next week with partnership before meeting with DOL or DAS.

*Plans to set up next meeting with outside entities (CTW, DAS, DOL) shortly after their internal one.

*Carey wants to meet with Doug Brockwell before moving forward with H1b FEE training.

*

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2026.2.12    PTAP zoom meeting on Apprenticeship Readiness 

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2026.2.12    PTAP zoom meeting on Apprenticeship Readiness 

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Attendees: Carey Ellis(1756 V.P.), Steve Peoples(Omni), Vincent Millan (Atu1756, Mech.), Ray Olivas (Atu 1756, Mech.), Eliseo, Rich D., Robert

* Colleges they are looking at working with: Valley College or Citrus College

*Instructors for courses will be Vincent Millan with Ray Olivas as back up.

*Went through their course outline for Bumper to Bumper Mechanic.

*Next steps PTAP Partnership meet with DAS or DOL representative.

* Rich D. will find out who the new DOL Rep. is and get them to the next meeting.

*Went through H1b contract and answered any questions both sides had. Carey and Steve still need to meet with Doug.

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2026.3.2 Zoom Meeting with PTAP Partnership on Apprenticeship

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2026.3.2 Zoom Meeting with PTAP Partnership on Apprenticeship

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attendees: Lorence Bradford(ATU1756 Pres.), Carey Ellis (1756V.P.), Vincent(Coordinator), Ray(Co-coordinator), Lupe(Executive Board 1756, Arcadia Operator), Jose Gavino (Maint. Manager), Steve Peoples(AGM), Peter Simon, Rob Gamble, Rich D., Eliseo, Robert.

1. H1B- has 9 participants trained (allowed 22). Have Rich send a list to partnership on who has attended.

2. They have created their Mechanics Bumper to Bumper Training Outline. They will send it to Rob and Peter to review.

3. They are looking at a 2 year program with 2-4 apprentices.

4. Would like to start with DOL first. Rob and Peter said they could probably do both at the same time if they wanted.

5. They have 2 colleges in mind to work with: Valley College (San Bernardino) and Citrus College. They need to build a relationship with one of them. Rob and Peter can help with that.

6. They need to work on creating their JAC(Joint Apprenticeship Committee) Who and how many members

7. Next meeting March 25th @ 1:00pm

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2026.3.17 call with Seannice (RAMP22 Coordinator)

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2026.3.17 call with Seannice (RAMP22 Coordinator)

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1. Seannice working on refresher coarse for Mentors in preparation for new operators from Community Bus coming over to RTA and to help train new mentors in Community Bus.

2. Starting in April Seannice will have 2 office days (Tues. & Wed.)

3. On 3-10-26 Seannice was part of Career Day for RTA at Martin Luther King High School.

4. In July 2026 Community Bus Operators and Mechanics will start coming over to RTA (110 new employees transferring over).

5. All Community Bus Ops. will get a Mentor

6. They plan on recruiting on 5-6 new mentors from the community bus operators.

7. Maintenance Mentors:

1. Vanessa for Mechanics and Servicers.

2. Bruce for Part Dept.

3. Allen for Servicers and Facilities.

8. Seannice and Doby(Operator Mentor) will be presenting at the ATU International Coordinators meeting on Saturday 3-21-26.

9. Next Partnership Meeting 3-19-26

10. Mauro Varela (V.P.) from ATU 1277 will no longer be representing for ATU 1277 on the RAMP22 Partnership. ATU 1277 still working on who will take his place.

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Ok. Day 1 of FEE Training at SJRTD with Mechanic Technicians and Apprentices ranging from 8 years to 1 year experience.

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2026.4.6      San Joaquin Driving Force Partnership (ATU 256 & SJRTD) Maintenance Utilities Workers Mentor Training

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2026.4.6      San Joaquin Driving Force Partnership (ATU 256 & SJRTD) Maintenance Utilities Workers Mentor Training

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April 6, 2026 — We’re proud to welcome four new Maintenance Mentors from the San Joaquin Driving Force, a partnership between San Joaquin Regional Transit District and ATU Local 256. Karl, Michael, Izaak, and Olabode are the first Service Workers to step into mentor roles at San Joaquin RTD and ATU Local 256.

The new mentors successfully completed their training today, led by Eliseo Acosta, Rich Diaz from ATU International (Amalgamated Transit Union), and Robert Hannibal from CTW (California Transit Works). Throughout the session, Karl, Michael, Izaak, and Olabode showed great enthusiasm and contributed to meaningful discussions on what it takes to be effective mentors.

Congratulations to Karl, Michael, Izaak, and Olabode on this exciting achievement!

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2026.4.7 San Joaquin Driving Force Partnership (ATU256 & SJRTD) Mechanic Mentor Training

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2026.4.7 San Joaquin Driving Force Partnership (ATU256 & SJRTD) Mechanic Mentor Training

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April 7, 2026 — Today we celebrate the newest Mechanic Mentors at San Joaquin Driving Force, a partnership between San Joaquin Regional Transit District and ATU Local 256. We proudly recognize Michael, Vanessa, Nicolas, Jose, and Jacob for stepping up to support and guide new transit mechanics as they begin their careers in the industry.

Michael, Vanessa, Nicolas, Jose, and Jacob successfully completed their mentor training today, led by Eliseo Acosta, Rich Diaz from ATU International (Amalgamated Transit Union), and Robert Hannibal from CTW (California Transit Works). Throughout the class, they demonstrated a genuine desire to support others and stayed actively engaged in learning the principles of effective mentorship.

Congratulations to Michael, Vanessa, Nicolas, Jose, and Jacob on joining the growing community of Transit Mechanic Mentors across the industry!

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2026.4.7 San Joaquin Driving Force Partnership (ATU256 & SJRTD) Mechanic Mentor Training

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2026.4.7 San Joaquin Driving Force Partnership (ATU256 & SJRTD) Mechanic Mentor Training

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April 7, 2026 — Today we celebrate the newest Mechanic Mentors at San Joaquin Driving Force, a partnership between San Joaquin Regional Transit District and ATU Local 256. We proudly recognize Michael, Vanessa, Nicolas, Jose, and Jacob for stepping up to support and guide new transit mechanics as they begin their careers in the industry.

Michael, Vanessa, Nicolas, Jose, and Jacob successfully completed their mentor training today, led by Eliseo Acosta, Rich Diaz from ATU International (Amalgamated Transit Union), and Robert Hannibal from CTW (California Transit Works). Throughout the class, they demonstrated a genuine desire to support others and stayed actively engaged in learning the principles of effective mentorship.

Congratulations to Michael, Vanessa, Nicolas, Jose, and Jacob on joining the growing community of Transit Mechanic Mentors across the industry!

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2026.2.17.  Call with Juan Colon (ATU1277/SunLine-Coordinator)

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2026.2.17.  Call with Juan Colon (ATU1277/SunLine-Coordinator)

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*Juan has been out sick for the week with Covid.

*Mentee's have all been assigned mentors

*SunLine is planning on hiring more drivers.

*Some Mentors already have 3 mentees. Juan would like to bring on 5 more mentors to help with the load.

* Asked if Juan and Emmanual were checking in on the mentors to see how they were doing and if there were any issues. Emmanual has been checking in with them.

*

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Test Post

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2026.2.26  ATLAS-SunLine-ATU 1277 Partnership meeting

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2026.2.26  ATLAS-SunLine-ATU 1277 Partnership meeting

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Attendees: Isabel, Mark, Marina, Brian, Sharon, Greg, Emmanual, Aaron, Rich D., Robert

1. Arron Williams from ATU 1277 will be the Lead on the Union side of the partnership

2. 22 Mentors Total

1. 6 mentors in fixed route have 1 mentee each

2. 3 mentors in Paratransit have 2 mentees each

3. 5 new op's in new class graduating in 3 weeks going to fixed route.

3. Emmanual checks in with Mentors once a week.

4. They have the GYR's and have adjusted it to fit SunLine better.

1. Maintenance has no new employees.

2. There are 2 mentors (Drew & Frankie), they had 3 but Robert left SunLine.

3. They have 3 mentees.

5. Mark would like a mentor in the Utilities Worker area. Emmanual has been trying to recruit someone. Possibly Frankie could help.

Mark leaves it to the mentors to run their program.

6. Greg would like to start working towards apprenticeship now that the mentor program is up and running. They already have a relation =ship with College of the Desert (COD).

7. CTW to set up a meeting in March with partnership and Rob and Peter to discuss apprenticeship.

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VP Carey will reschedule.

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1. Today was Transit Appreciation Day, they were having food trucks for all the employees today.

2. They are working on hiring 2 AGM's

3. He would like more mentors, at least 25.

4. They lost Denise as the management coordinator, she left for another job. He is working on appointing someone new, possibly Tiffany or Monique from Training.

5. They Arte still assigning mentees to mentors.

6. He hasn't had a lot of time to spend on the program without having a AGM or training manager he's been very busy.

7. I offered to add the new management coordinator the CTW Management Caucus and set up a meeting with the new management coordinator with CTW to help understand what the mentor program is about.

8. Dieter is interested in building the program into an apprenticeship and would like to work on the next steps to prepare for it. I will send a remainder email next week to get a CTW informational meeting going with Rob and Peter.

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1. Rich H. and Robert presented the CTW Focus Group Results from Nov. 2025 focus group.

2. Mauro received curriculum from LA Trade Tech for the FST (Facilities Maintenance Technician) Apprenticeship Program.

3. The Trade Tech representative would like to have some of the FST to check it over to see if there is anything that needs to be added or changed to fit the actual work. There were two names mentioned.

4. The program start time for classes will be April/May 2026

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1. Rudy (JWI Maintenance Lead) appointed as one of voting members on Union side of JATC

2. MOU discussions on OHL and Mechanic Helper apprenticeship program standards

3. Approval of Mentor applications

4. AIF Funding

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2026.2.18.  FMAP partnership zoom meeting

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2026.2.18.  FMAP partnership zoom meeting

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Attendees: Mauro (1277 V.P.), Claire (Coordinator), Victor(ATU Exec Board), Rich D., Eliseo, Robert (management didn't show)

2 FST's are reviewing training coarse material created by LA TradeTech and giving input.

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The CTW Management Caucus provides a space for transit leaders to collaborate on workforce challenges, share best practices, and strengthen labor-management partnerships that support a skilled and sustainable transit workforce.

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2026.2.2. CTW Regional Coordinators zoom meeting

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2026.2.2. CTW Regional Coordinators zoom meeting

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Attendees: Harpreet, Katelynn, Patricia, Esteban, Kay, Gail, Seannice, Roland, Siddiqu, Jose, Deb, Susan, Robert, Rich D.,

Shandis McGlothen, Eliseo, Josephine

Regional Coordinator’s Meeting

February 24,2026

10:00am-11:30am

1.        Introductions for new coordinators

2.        Updates:

·      What you have been working on?

·      What are your challenges?

·      What are your goals for 2026?

3.        Uploading pictures and information to the CTW website

·      How this helps us to stay connected and build strong statewide work.

·      An easier process is being developed for uploading and sharing but until then we will use the current process.

4.        Mentor Monday’s (would you like to restart this?)

·      Why did you become a mentor? (for new mentor’s  or mentors that have not yet answered this question)

·      What’s the best experience you’ve had as a mentor?

5.        As a group what would you like to build on this year?

6.        Next meeting date?

Conversations:

How do you deal with partnership leadership changes. This was sparked by the recent changes at San Joaquin/ATU256 and the letting go of the CEO and CFO.

·      Questions about whether if your program will survive when your told things are on hold.

·      Who do you as a coordinator talk to when in times of uncertainty when you have your doubts.

Action Items:

1.        Stigma Video creation. Volunteers(Harpreet, Katelynn, Patricia, Seannice, Esteban)

2.        Create something on Retirement.

3.        JWI’s “Yes No Videos”

4.        Community- Public Service and Operator Roles

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Attendees: Harpreet, Patricia, Katelynn, Michael, Param, Rudy, Herlinda, Maicha, Rafael, Sue, Robert

Patty working on a list of goals for 2026.

Review mentor meeting agenda.

Created 10 committees for mentors to be involved in.

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JWI 2026*

*MENTOR MEETINGS*
#1 Mentor Meeting #1 Jan 24th
#2 Mentor Meeting #2 Mar 7th
#3 Mentor Meeting #3 June 6th
#4 Mentor Meeting #4 Aug 1st
#5 Mentor Meeting #5 Sep 12th
#6 Mentor Meeting #6 Nov 7th

*SPECIAL EVENT*
---JWI Mission College Graduation *October 17th 2026

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Attached are the New documents and the agenda for Saturday mentor meeting.

1- We will be starting at 7am Sharp

To achieve this we have moved a few things around as follow:

2- Breakfast will be from 6:30am to 6:59am 🤓

3) Please Arrive prior to 7 and get situated

4) We will not do the Sign in sheets in the morning, this will take place after the first session.

5) First Session will be ATU(Raj)/VTA(Nanni).

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Mentor Meeting 2/2026 Summary*

*1 -* Welcome, Sign in, Breakfast, networking

*2 -* Empower presentation - Path to retirement 457, retirement planning, after Early retirement access to 457, Empower app and you can do a lot right off the app., 457 and 2 different types of contributions (Pre-Tax & Roth) & pros/cons, How do the withdrawals work after retirement.

*3 -* Mike & Paul from Service n Planning
- Issues with Bikes lane, Bus stop construction and coach stops during the construction, 568 alternative route, San Carlos Construction, follow up of the issue brought up at the mentor meeting
- upcoming Sign up
- no changes to Light rail
- minor schedule adjustment to bus routes.
- FIFA world cup service update

August signs up BART service are changing - VTA service will adjust accordingly.

Connect Bay Area Campaign
- half cent tax over the next 14 years of passed in November

VTA - Visionary Network plan
- more weekend service
- more frequent service
- service to new areas
- new service models

8 phase plan over the coming years. (2024-2030)

Question Answer session!!!

*****Break Time*****

*4 -* Ms. Lisa Talked about Transit Employees appreciation Day coming up.

*5 -* Yard Break outs

*6 -* Lunch Time BBQ Hosted by North Yard Mentors & paid by All 😎

*7 -* New Deputy Director of Operations Stopped by to introduce her self.

*8 -* Armando Shared Mentee situation with all the mentors.

*9 -* Survey and closing comments.

*10 -* Clean up and adjourn.

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Cerone Yard being rebuilt

Rodeo coming on April 25th

JWI Bus Class on Monday 4-20-26

Starting Mechanic Helper Program

Has 2 bus classes currently going on.

Next Mentor Meeting June 6th, 2026.

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Waiting for material

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2026.4.12 Prep for Statewide Coordinators Meeting

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2026.4.12 Prep for Statewide Coordinators Meeting

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JWI will be leading the coordinators meeting (Harpreet, Katelynn)

Call with Harpreet to work on/create agenda for Statewide Coordinators meeting on 4-14-26

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DOL Apprenticeship Registered 7/17/25

1 curiculum

6 months of training

12 months OJT (on the job).

Mentors Robert Vargas & Daniel Paz will be reviewing the curriculum to check for any FST job skills needed to be added or changed.

2 LA Metro maintenance instructors will be going through the first FST class at LA Trade Tech to learn the curriculum. They will be teaching the classes after the initial one.

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2026.4.14 Statewide Coordinators Meeting (part 1)

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2026.4.14 Statewide Coordinators Meeting (part 1)

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CTW Regional Mentor Coordinators Meeting

April 14, 20206 10am-11:30am

Meeting Attendees:

Omnitrans (Local 1277): Tiffany Barnes (New Coordinator), Michael Garrett (Co-coordinator), Jose (Coordinator), Josie

GGT: Roland Halsell

VTA (JWI/Local 265): Harpreet, Patricia Ibarra

PIA/AC Transit: Kay Avagnon

Riverside Transit Agency (Local 1277): Represented by Josie Garcia

Foothill Transit (Local 1756): Vince Milan, Carey Ellis, Lupe Carranza

San Joaquin RTD: Gail Hall, Corey Cummings

SamTrans (Local 1574): Saddiqu

MST (Local1225): Esteban Yabarra

CTW Staff: Deb, Susan, Russell Anderson (CTW Bus Maintenance Training Director), Eleanor Angeles, Joe Angeles, Peter Simon Shandis McGlothen, Josie Garcia

Key Outcomes

The meeting focused on peer support and resource sharing among mentor program coordinators facing common challenges: funding cuts, staffing shortages, and leadership transitions. ¹² Coordinators shared creative solutions including supervisor-led ride-alongs and volunteer-based outreach to maintain program continuity despite budget constraints. ³⁴

Program Updates by Agency

Omnitrans (Local 1277)

Challenge: Program stalled after losing coordinator; new coordinator Tiffany Barnes assigned and meeting scheduled for next week. ⁵⁶

Funding issue: No funds for ride-alongs; company unwilling to compensate mentors even for 4-hour sessions. ⁶⁷

Current status: Michael Garrett joined as co-coordinator; continuing NEO presentations despite pairing challenges. ⁷⁸

Golden Gate Transit (Roland Halsell)

Creative solution: Implemented supervisor-led ride-alongs with "Vegas rule" confidentiality agreement to address staffing shortages. ³⁴

Success story: First mentee (Hitham ) is now Deputy General Manager, fully supporting the program. ⁹¹⁰

Recent achievement: Graduated 17 pre-apprentices; new class of 12 direct hires starting next week. ¹¹

VTA (JWI/Local 265)

Maintenance program: Restarting service mechanic apprenticeship after going inactive since 2018. ¹²¹³

Current approach: Half-day and full-day ride-alongs scheduled on fully-staffed days (1-2 per week). ¹⁴¹⁵

Member engagement: Created "JWI closet" at union hall for uniform donations to increase new member visits. ¹⁶

PIA (Kay)

Leadership transition: New director requires dispatch-level scheduling work; previous director (Mr. Crawley) provided full support. ¹⁷¹⁸

Payment issue: Mentors no longer compensated for meetings; attendance dropped to half, mostly same volunteers. ¹⁷¹⁹

Recent success: Strong mentor meeting with mentees from various tenure levels sharing experiences. ²⁰²¹

Riverside Transit Agency (Local 1277)

Expansion: Co-coordinator Shanice Archie onboarding 150 new drivers, including 60+ transitioning from contractor department. ²²²³

Apprenticeship status: Started process for driver apprenticeship certification. ²³

Foothill Transit (Local 1756)

Program stage: Maintenance apprenticeship awaiting DAS and DOL approval; modules reviewed by CTW. ²⁴²⁵

Mentor readiness: 5 trained mentors practicing with new hires while awaiting formal apprentices. ²⁶

Management engagement: Actively maintaining communication to prevent program from falling to wayside. ²⁵

San Joaquin RTD

Critical situation: No CEO, CFO, or COO; recent CEO departed after one month. ²⁷

Budget cuts: Security cut in half; mentor meeting hours reduced from 8 to 4 hours. ²⁷²⁸

Positive development: Apprenticeship standards finally approved by DAS/DOL. ²⁸

Team stability: Superintendent and all mentors remain committed despite uncertainty. ²⁹

SamTrans (Saddiqu Local 1574)

Union/management dynamic: District fully supporting program despite union president's initial opposition due to personal conflict. ³⁰³¹

Ride-along solution: Planning mentor meetings during summer bid when more operators on extra board (reduced school service). ³²

Upcoming class: 20+ operators starting in May after 5-month pause. ³³

Key Strategies Shared

Addressing Funding Constraints

Volunteer outreach: Personal phone calls to mentors on coordinators' own time to maintain connections. ³⁴

Shortened ride-alongs: Proposing 2-4 hour sessions instead of full 8-hour shifts to reduce costs. ³⁵³⁶

Union hall meetings: Utilizing union facilities for mentor meetings when agency support unavailable. ³⁷³⁸³⁹

Building Management Support

Political advocacy: Coordinators must act as politicians, communicating program benefits to top leadership. ⁴⁰⁴¹

Metrics emphasis: Highlighting morale benefits and retention value to justify costs during service shortages. ⁴¹⁴²⁴³

Partnership foundation: Strong labor-management partnership at top levels essential for resolving policy issues. ¹³⁴⁴

Maintaining Program Momentum

Success stories: Documenting and sharing mentor impact stories (like Roland's mentee becoming DGM) to fuel mentor motivation. ²⁴

Realistic expectations: Setting clear expectations with new hires about transit challenges rather than making promises coordinators can't keep. ⁴⁵⁴⁶

Resource sharing: Offering modules, tools, and direct support between agencies (Russell Anderson shared VTA maintenance modules with Local 1756). ¹²⁴⁷

Decisions Made

Meeting format change: Each regional meeting will be hosted by different agency/coordinator to build community ownership and sustainability. ¹⁴⁸

Next meeting host: Local 1756 (Foothill Transit maintenance team) will host June 16th meeting. ⁴⁹⁵⁰

Video project: VTA team (Harpreet, Shanice, Esteban) to explore creating operator-specific stigma/support video to replace generic content used in NEOs. ⁵¹⁵²

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The FST Curriculum is completed/modules done.

Need to add tweaks the SME(subject matter experts) mentors suggested.

The mentors still need to review the last section.

Next step- formatting

They will update the the curriculum after the first class.

LA Trade Tech will teach the first class.

Claire will work on a hybrid schedule for classroom and OJT. 1-2 weeks in class and 2-3 weeks OJT.

Claire start registering the apprentices.

Jesus at LA Trade Tech will come up with in class training schedule.

Dr. Stone will work with SME FST Mentors to finish module.

Committee will meet next week to work on Metro's internal schedule.

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2026.4.14 Statewide Coordinators Caucus Meeting (part 2)

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2026.4.14 Statewide Coordinators Caucus Meeting (part 2)

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Pending Confirmation

Shanice Archie's email: Josie to verify RTA coordinator's active email address for meeting invitations. ₅₃

Way plan distribution: Shanice to distribute planning tool for handling challenging situations (action item from previous meeting). ₅₁

1756 apprenticeship approval: Awaiting final DAS and DOL approval for maintenance program standards. ₂₄₂₅ Resources Offered

Maintenance modules: Russell Anderson (CTW Bus Maintenance Training Director) available to share VTA service mechanic curriculum and support new maintenance programs. ₁₂₄₇

Program materials: Local 1756 willing to share maintenance apprenticeship modules and work process documentation. ₂₂

Peer mentoring: Roland Halsell offered personal support to coordinators facing leadership opposition or program threats. ₄₀

CTW support: Deb offered to facilitate management-to-management conversations (e.g., Kristen/Laura to other agencies) for networking support. ₄₂₅₄

Themes & Insights

Attendance Crisis Impact

Systemic issue: Agencies 50+ operators over budget still experiencing service shortages due to attendance problems.

Member impact: Operators unable to leave on time for family obligations when colleagues don't show up.

Collective responsibility: Attendance requires union-management partnership, not blame; need awareness campaigns on showing up. Leadership Transition Challenges

Common pattern: Multiple agencies experiencing program setbacks after leadership changes (Omnitrans, PIA, San Joaquin RTD, VTA).

Honeymoon period: Initial enthusiasm followed by "now what do we do?" phase requiring sustained relationship-building.

Survival story: Roland survived 2-year period with "tyrant" leader who wanted to eliminate program; persevered by using resources (CTW weekly check-ins, general manager support).

Program Sustainability

Volunteer origins: Many programs started with mentors volunteering time before funding existed.

Apprenticeship conversion: Converting to registered apprenticeships provides ongoing funding stream versus grant dependency.

Community model: Coordinators emphasized building peer support network so programs continue "when we're no longer here." Action Items

Local 1756: Prepare to host June 16th regional coordinators meeting.

VTA team (Harpreet, Shanice, Esteban): Create WhatsApp group to discuss operator-specific support video project.

Josie (Local 1277): Verify Shanice Archie's coordinator email address and report to Susan.

Omnitrans (Jose & Michael): Meet with Tiffany Barnes next week to align on mentor pairing needs and 4-hour ride-along proposal.

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2026.6.16 CTW Regional Coordinators Meeting

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2026.6.16 CTW Regional Coordinators Meeting

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2026.6.16 CTW Regional Coordinator's meeting

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Day 1 of FEE training at ATU 1277. Great way to bring different agencies to training together and share and assist one another. LA Metro and Riverside Transit. 

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Day 1 of FEE training at ATU 1277. Great way to bring different agencies to training together and share and assist one another. LA Metro and Riverside Transit. 

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Great collaboration of Training under H1B grant and bringing multiple HRTPs to training helping one another and sharing information.

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Christian- very interesting class. I love the hands on instructions. The training was right on with what we deal with on an everyday basis. I now have a stronger foundational understanding of DC circuits.

Estevan- The class was very helpful and  it definitely improved my understanding of how electricity moves. I would never touch a project on my own like this, but I do feel like I could now. The class is a good stepping stone into the subject. I will definitely go out to learn more.

Brian- This class was very informational out of all the electrical courses I took. I took the most away from this one. Learned a lot of principles that I can use in the shop and at home. I wish the course was longer or if there was more I can sign up for.

Jose Franco- The class was very helpful. I feel like I learned a lot about electrical before this class I would go on YouTube and try to figure it out. Electrical issues now I feel like I can diagnose some electrical problems.

Robert Singleton- Great class. Learned a lot I would recommend this class to anyone who needs electrical.

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The Focus was Bus Maintenance Mentorship!

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NorCal Reginal Maintenance Meeting June 2026

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NorCal Reginal Maintenance Meeting June 2026

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Saturday, June 13th marked a special day for labor management programs as California Transit Works! sponsored the first-ever Northern California Maintenance Caucus Regional Meeting at AC Transit’s Training and Education Center.  Maintenance mechanic mentors from Valley Transportation Agency and San Joaquin Regional Transit District joined CTW and AC Transit staff in lively discussions.  A full day focused on becoming a maintenance mentor, importance of technical upskilling, embracing a technologically advanced future and perhaps most interestingly, exploring how effective mentoring is an amalgamation of coaching, inspiring and empowering the next generation of transit professionals.

AC Transit represented well as Cecil Blandon, James Souza, and me together with ATU Local 192 in Gustavo Vasquez, LaTrina Meredith, James Jackson, Nolan Briggs, and mechanic (guides) Jairo Galdamez (D2), Ramon Smith (D3), Kyin Kyu (D4), Robert Levey (CMF), Ashneel Dass (D2), and Christoper Souza (D2) made lasting impressions.  Having been to many of these, I will say unequivocally that everyone stepped-up, front and center literally in the auditorium, and expressed passion for mentorship, fellowship, and friendship.  It was truly a new network … and long overdue.

Many thanks to CTW staff in Russell Anderson, David Lawhorn, and Robert Hanibal.  All led the charge, and also surprised us with James Logan High School’s Automotive Technology Instructor, Steve Kay (aka, Coach K, according to Russell … and after listening to his incredibly caring stories, it’s an appropriate title).  Steve is the beating heart of James Logan’s program and shared many touching stories of how mentors can shape the next generation of well-rounded and caring mechanics.  And of course, no event would be complete without thanking Deb Moy, CTW’s founder, who unfortunately couldn’t be with us but made sure her presence was felt … see the link and video below!  Thank you Deb, CTW and Peak Media.  A great snapshot of the day.

Northern California Maintenance Caucus Regional Meeting June 13, 2026

Enjoy!  And to Nolan Briggs, congratulations on your first working maintenance mentor conference.  Your drive for staff to be the best was evident.

Cheers!

Michael Flocchini

Director of Training and Workforce Development

Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District
20234 Mack Street | Hayward, CA 94545
510.891.2553 | Cell: 510.774.0488
mflocchi@actransit.org | actransit.org

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2026.7.1 - Responses from VTA/ATU 265 attendees to the NorCal Maintenance in person Mentor Meeting

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2026.7.1 - Responses from VTA/ATU 265 attendees to the NorCal Maintenance in person Mentor Meeting

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Responses from the follow up phone calls with the VTA/ATU265 Maintenance workers that attended the CTW NorCal Maintenance Mentor Meeting on 6-13-26.

There were 3 attendees from VTA/ATU265:

The questions:

1. How did you like the meeting?

2. What would you like to add to the meeting?

3. What training would you like or need?

4. What didn’t you care for about the meeting?

Zac Bodle (ATU 265 ABA) :

It would be good to have more workers there. VTA had a FIFA game that day so not a lot of workers were able to attend.

It was great hearing from the workers on the shop floor.

Would like to have more maintenance mentor meetings, feels they are needed.

The presentations were good, they covered a lot of different topics.

Would like to see more training in mentoring. Peer to peer, one on one as well as in group settings. Also Tools on communication.

Would like to define maintenance mentors at VTA more. The leads act as mentors as well as the mentor designated in training new mechanic training classes but what about the everyday mentor.

We can use Zac’s post in Facebook on the maintenance mentor meeting.

Tesfahun:

Like the meeting especially talking about the mentors and mentoring.

This is the first maintenance mentor meeting he has attended, would like to see more meetings.

Tesfahun started as an operator and transferred to maintenance after 1 year, so he has seen how the mentor program works on the operator side. He would like to see it developed more on the maintenance side.

He would like to see more training on electrical. With the new technology of buses he feels there is a need for it. It’s not like the old diesel buses.

Has worked at VTA for 11 years. Became a TM in 2021.

Liked everything in the meeting.

Mike:

First time attending this type of meeting. Would like more.

Started as a mechanic at VTA.

He arrived later so he didn’t make entire meeting.

He enjoyed hearing about mentorship and bringing up more workers in the field of mechanics and helping them in a career at transit.

It was good to hear others stories and talk with other agency mechanics/mentors.

It was great to be able to connect with other mechanics.

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2026.1.6 - Call with Seannice (RAMP22 Coordinator)                                                                                     

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2026.1.6 - Call with Seannice (RAMP22 Coordinator)                                                                                     

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1. Partnership has been working on getting their program registered as a DOL apprenticeship. They were about ready to turn in the paperwork when the government shutdown happened and stalled it. Seannice will be check ing to see where they are with that at today's partnership meeting.

2. Seannice will be holding a Mentor on Saturday 1-10-26 @ 9:00am via Zoom.

3. It's been slow lately but it will start getting busy soon as RTA brings over the paratransit operator and mechanics as well as hiring more paratransit op's and mechanics.

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Gail Hail and Gabe Quintero with the wrapped bus for SJRTD in celebration of Americas 250 years

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Mentor Coordinator Gail Hall and Mentor Gabe Quintero celebrating July 4th with family and friends of San Joaquin Regional Transit District

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2026.3.18  Call with Laura Valdiva at RTA

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2026.3.18  Call with Laura Valdiva at RTA

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Things are going great

Really busy in preparing for the community bus operators. and mechanics coming over to RTA

Currently hiring and training new community bus operators before large group transfers over from private company.

Would like to work on maintenance apprenticeship but not currently, it is too busy.

Victor from ATU 1277 will be the ATU lead for the RAMP22 partnership with Mauro stepping away.

Seannice became the main coordinator now with Josie at ATU International.

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Attendees: Greg Wildman (SunLine), Bryan (SunLine Training), Sharon (SunLine), Rob G., Peter S., Rich D., Robert H.

James Hall is designing their Zero Emission Maintenance training

Mike Hayes (SunLine Maintenance Training) is working on developing their bumper to bumper bus maintenance training.

Has started a relationship with C.O.D. (College of the Desert). Contact person at COD is Douglas Redmond.

It was suggested to work on both DAS and DOL apprenticeships.

Discussion on the benefits of the 2 apprenticeships.

Next Steps:

Send CTW College Quick start guide

CTW Presentation

Contact Douglas from COD.

Peter will send SJRTD Standards

Have Peter and Rob added to monthly ATLAS Partnership meetings.

Invite Eliseo Acosta to ATLAS Partnership meeting to discuss VTA/ATU265 Mechanic Apprenticeship

Set Goals and Target deadline.

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2026.3.23 call with Aaron Williams (ATU 1277) on the Apprenticeship meeting.

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2026.3.23 call with Aaron Williams (ATU 1277) on the Apprenticeship meeting.

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Questions Aaron has:

What is the structure of a maintenance program and how do we build it

What does an operator program look like. Aaron comes from maintenance and know that area well but isn't familiar with operators.

He has concerns about Greg and Mark on building the maintenance apprenticeship as a joint partnership.

He would like to invite Russell and Eliseo to the ATLAS Partnership meetings to help the maintenance leadership see how a joint apprenticeship program works.

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2026.3.25 call with ATU 1704 President Joanne Barnes

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2026.3.25 call with ATU 1704 President Joanne Barnes

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Vicki is the current management coordinator.

Manager under Dietter not kind to the workers, talks down to them (Robert).

Management keeps losing people.

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Updates:

2 new mentees being assigned mentors, 2 more waiting to be assigned after graduation.

Currently has 13 Mentors with 21 Mentees.

Class of 20 operators starts March 20th.

Emmanual to reach out to Drew (Maintenance Mentor) to help recruit Servicer Mentors.

Emmanual will be leaving SunLine and moving to Texas.

Juan will become the Lead Coordinator.

SunLine has developed a relationship with COD (College of the Desert) Douglas Redmond.

Discussion on needing a faculty member to help with apprenticeship

Discussion on different funding sources through college apprenticeships.

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2026. 4.15 call with Vincent Millan (PATP Coordinator)

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2026. 4.15 call with Vincent Millan (PATP Coordinator)

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Still working on apprenticeship

Currently has 4 Mentors

Has 4 new mechanics on nights