Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005: David Stiggers Elected President

With continuing Metro Transit negotiations underway, members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005 voted November 14 to elect new leadership for three-year terms.

Incumbent president Ryan Timlin chose not to run again, leading to several contested races.

In a two-candidate race for president, current interim vice president David M. Stiggers defeated Jacquie Perkins.

In a two-candidate race for vice president, Dave Butts defeated current recording secretary Miriam Wynn.

The race for recording secretary drew four candidates, with no candidate receiving a majority. In a two-way run-off election December 12, Andrew Boardman won more votes than Veronica Carter.

Tommy Bellfield, incumbent financial secretary-treasurer, had no opponent in seeking re-election.

The executive board taking office January 1 will include six incumbents and 10 new members. Four incumbents lost re-election bids.

“The main goal of an incoming president is to unify all the members and get everybody on the same page,” said Stiggers, who takes office January 1 as Local 1005 president along with the other newly-elected officers and executive board members. “My goal is to be as transparent as possible with our members and spark them to be more involved… Unity is everything.”

Stiggers, Minneapolis, has been a Local 1005 member since 2006 and worked as a Metro Transit bus operator out of the south garage. He has served as Local 1005’s interim vice president since October 2021. Before joining ATU, “I had worked in the IT field for a while,” said Stiggers, 56, but “I really enjoy driving so I applied at Metro Transit.”

Stiggers has five grown children including a union member daughter who recently was on strike in Los Angeles as a member of SAG-AFTRA.

He recalled joining picket lines as a youngster with his mother, who was a member of the American Postal Workers Union and who later worked as a teacher.

Incoming ATU Local 1005 vice president Dave Butts has been a Local 1005 member for 26 years and has served as an executive board member for nine years.

Butts, Big Lake, currently works for Metro Transit as stockkeeper for the North Star commuter rail line.

He said he originally sought to work at Metro Transit for the pension and benefits.

Butts said he became active in the union because “if you feel you can add something to the mix, don’t just sit on the sidelines.”

Ryan Timlin, Local 1005 president for the past six years, said he will return to his job as a Metro Transit bus operator. “I’ll still be active in the local,” said Timlin, who also previously served nine years on the executive board. “I’d rather go back to the rank and file and do union work.”