News

UTA/ATU Career Pathway Partnership Exposes 3,200 Students—Possibility of being Transit Employees

Posted May 2014

For over a year the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 382 have been working together on outreach to make community members aware of opportunities for great careers in frontline work at UTA.  A team of union and management representatives have met monthly to develop and take on assignments, and the group efforts have resulted in outcomes and activities such as highly visible career advertisements on UTA buses, a recruitment brochure, and a variety of labor-management recruitment visits and activities at community colleges, high schools and the local Job Corps Center.

In late April, team co-leader Mike Harowitz from ATU (Bus Maintenance) and team members Doug Malmborg and Imelda Piep (Bus Operations), Denis Davis (Maintenance Training), and Charleen Solyom (Human Resources) participated in one of the most successful events yet: Construction Career Days at Davis Applied Technology College, aimed at introducing junior and senior high school students to the possibility of a career at UTA and engaging them in interesting and fun ways.  A 2013 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) bus provided by UTA’s Central Division served as an overall visual and hands-on aid.  Maintenance Training then presented a variety of engine, brake and steering parts, and students were invited to properly identify the parts for a chance to win a UTA t-shirt.

Team members agree that the bus and game were well-received by the over 3,200 students who came through during the two-day program. Thanks to Maintenance Training Administrator Randy Welsh for the report.  The UTA/ATU ongoing outreach work is being documented as part of the Transportation Learning Center’s work on Career Pathways under the FTA’s Innovative Workforce Development project.