Here is the excerpt from The Nation magazine concerning the ATU:

Most Valuable National Union: Amalgamated Transit Union

With their Occupy Transit T-shirts and aggressively progressive approach to fighting for local and regional services, the 190,000 members of ATU are a force to be reckoned with in debates about economic and social justice. They gave critical early support to the Occupy movement, embracing its spirit with the declaration that “public transportation is a human right.” “Occupy understands that the transit system that took a century to build is threatened by the 1 percent, who want all of the financial benefits but none of the financial responsibilities of a civilized society,” ATU president Larry Hanley explained at the launch of 2012’s National Day of Action for Public Transportation. After Superstorm Sandy devastated public transit in the Northeast Corridor, Hanley made the right connections. “Ultimately, who should pay is the oil companies,” he told the most valuable StreetsBlog.org. “They’re the people who are polluting the environment, the people who are causing this global warming…. If ever there was clear evidence of climate change, it’s what we’ve been through over the last several months, with the hot summer and now this storm activity. Like the cleanup in the Gulf, they should be called upon to clean up after this storm.”

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