The Florida sky was lit in a surreal glow early this morning as NASA's space shuttle Endeavor blasted into the sky at 4:14 a.m. TWU Local 525 members were an integral part of sending Endeavour to space and ensuring safe pre and post-launch conditions here on Earth. They represent the ground crew at Kennedy and Cape Canaveral space centers.

Clouds forced a delay for the shuttle's lift off early on Saturday morning, but clear skies made this morning's launch successful, and a beautiful sight for the thousands of spectators who gathered at Kennedy Space Center for the occasion. Endeavour is the first of the last five shuttles to launch before NASA retires the almost 30-year-old orbiter fleet to make way for future spacecraft.

Obama's proposed budget for NASA announced last week has drawn both criticism and praise from space industry experts and the media. If passed by Congress, the budget will cut funds for NASA's Constellation program, to return to the moon by 2020, and make other drastic changes to United States space travel. Instead of choosing destinations in space and then developing the technology to carry out those missions, technology would be developed before destinations are chosen. NASA would need to rely on private companies to develop the technology and spacecraft that would send American astronauts into low earth orbit.

Watch TWU Local 525 members discuss their worries about the future of their jobs, their industry and their communities, which rely on the current model of space exploration for their survival.

Click Here to see photos from the launch and to see some of the members of Local 525.

Clouds forced a delay for space shuttle Endeavor's lift off early Saturday morning, but NASA is hoping for a successful launch tomorrow, Feb. 8, at 4:14 a.m. TWU Local 525 members, part of NASA's ground crew, were among thousands of NASA employees prepared for the launch last night. They will be working through the night again this evening into tomorrow morning in hopes of a successful blast off.

Thousands of spectators gathered on and around NASA's grounds to be a part of the first of NASA's last five shuttle launches. Stay tuned to twu.org over the next few days for exclusive footage of Local 525 members at NASA.

The Local is almost as old as the United States space program itself; it signed its charter in 1957. But with Obama's budget announcement made on Feb. 1 proposing to cut the Constellation program (a return to the moon by 2020) and make other drastic changes to the American space program, the Local and others in the space industry worry about the future of their jobs.

This weekends Endeavour launch is the first of five final shuttle missions planned for 2010 before the three-orbiter fleet is retired to make way for future spacecraft. The now jeopardized Constellation program was to follow NASA's out-going shuttle program, but despite the billions of dollars already spent on Constellation, the Obama budget proposes to drop it in favor of a space program that heavily favors commercial development of technology.

If passed by Congress, Obama's proposed budget for NASA will dramatically change the space industry. Instead of choosing destinations in space and then developing the technology to carry out those missions, technology would be developed before destinations are chosen. NASA would need to rely on private companies to develop the technology and spacecraft that will send American astronauts into low earth orbit.

Former NASA administrator Michael Griffin told The Washington Post earlier this week: "It means that essentially the U.S. has decided that they're not going to be a significant player in human space flight for the foreseeable future. The path that they're on with this budget is a path that can't work."

Industry experts and members of Congress have worried that canceling Constellation will put the U.S. behind other nations in space exploration. In addition, the commercial program would create up to 1,700 jobs, but that is hardly a comfort to the 7,000 people in the industry who are expected to lose their jobs when the space shuttle is retired next year.

The space shuttle Endeavour launched at 4:39 a.m. on Feb. 7 from the Kennedy Space Center. The five-man, one-woman crew, commanded by astronaut George Samka, are hauling a brand-new room for the International Space Station, as well as a seven-window observation portal dubbed the Cupola. The mission will last 13 days.

Photo credit: NASA

Local 525 members at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida are making the final preparations for the last shuttle launch in darkness to take place this weekend. Visit twu.org on Sunday, Feb. 7 for exclusive video coverage of TWU members preparing for the launch. With this week's news of Obama's proposed budget cuts ending NASA's Constellation program, among other drastic changes, the launch has significant meaning for TWU members on the ground, for the space industry and for the country. Sunday's twu.org video will feature Local 525 members discussing what these dramatic changes, if passed by Congress, could mean for their jobs and their community.

TWU's Local 525 is almost as old as the U.S. missile program itself. The Local received its TWU charter in June, 1957 and has since been involved with every launch from Cape Canaveral or Kennedy Space Center. Local 525 members are involved in many aspects of the space industry from manning the fire trucks that accompany the shuttle down the runway to launching commercial and military satellites.

This weekend's launch is the first of NASA's five final shuttle missions planned for 2010 before the three-orbiter fleet is retired to make way for future spacecraft. It marks NASA's 130th shuttle flight since the fleet began launching astronauts to orbit in 1981.

The space shuttle Endeavour is planned to launch at 4:39 a.m. on Feb. 7 from the Kennedy Space Center. The five-man, one-woman crew, commanded by astronaut George Samka, will be hauling a brand-new room for the International Space Station, as well as a seven-window observation portal dubbed the Cupola. The mission will last 13 days.

Remember to visit http://www.twu.org on Sunday, Feb. 7 for exclusive footage of the launch and Local 525 members who help make it happen.
Photo credit: NASA

A developing coalition of advocates, including Transport Workers Union Local 100 President John Samuelsen, local and state politicians and other union leaders, participated in a rally held in the Broad street station on New York City's M subway line during the morning rush hour in lower Manhattan on Feb. 4. City Council President Christine Quinn, leaders in the State Legislature, and Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign, called for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to use available federal stimulus dollars to fund operating expenses, reversing planned service cuts and enabling the continuation of the free fare program for schoolchildren.

Samuelsen noted that, over the last several years, the MTA has diverted $1.3 billion from its operating budget into capital expenditures – “mega‐projects” like the #7 line extension, and the Second Avenue subway. Rather than call for the abandonment of the capital projects, Samuelsen and other transit leaders are counseling fiscal prudence at a time when service cuts are decimating train and bus service for working New Yorkers who depend on them to get to work and others who need them to find jobs. They pointed out that many other major American cities are using available federal stimulus money to fund operating expenses in part – leaving the MTA conspicuous for its refusal to do this.

“We need the [money] flow to go in the other direction now,” Samuelsen said. “But the MTA refuses to consider this and other achievable options to avert today’s operating budget crisis….Apply the $90 million in stimulus money available to you right now – today – as a first step to close the budget gap.”

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn added: “We have, this morning, a simple message for the MTA. We fully recognize that we are in tough budget times. But there is an immediate solution, and it is within the power of the MTA Board: take a portion of the stimulus funds and use that to fund the operating budget. Federal law explicitly provides for this.”

Budget cuts proposed by the MTA would force the shut‐down of two subway lines, running of fewer trains on another seven lines, the elimination of 21 bus lines, and the ending of the student Metro-card program. The Union and advocates say that the cuts will adversely affect four million riders. It would also mean layoffs for between 500 and 1,000 transit workers.

Councilman James Vacca, Chair of the Transportation Committee, was blunt in his assessment:
“Straphangers face an abyss – a mass transit system on the verge of no longer serving the masses. The hole the MTA finds itself in is growing deeper by the day,” he said, referring to today’s reports of greater budget shortfalls caused by lower projections of payroll tax revenues. “We at the Council stand ready to address these issues.”

District Council 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts, who represents 125,000 municipal workers covering virtually every City agency, called for “a full blown investigation into MTA finances,” echoing a just‐released Inspector General report that found widespread use of contractors who had defaulted on other projects. “We’re tired of hearing that we don’t have the money,” she added. “Stimulus funds should be used to cover operating expenses.

Straphangers Campaign Senior Attorney Gene Russianoff said he was urging the U.S. Congress to make additional transit funding available as part of a jobs bill now being considered on Capitol Hill. U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has urged a $15 billion appropriation for transit. “I am an M train rider,” Russianoff said, “and if the plan goes forward, 16 trains that run during rush hour would cease to exist.”

"Maintaining subway and bus service is critical to ensuring the sustainability of New York now and in the future," said Rich Kassel, Senior Attorney and transportation expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an environmental organization. "If we are serious about cutting pollution and reducing congestion in the city, we should be improving transit service, not cutting it. Other cities have used federal stimulus funds to maintain transit service, and the MTA should follow their lead.”

TWU Local 100 has invited MTA Chairman Jay Walder to accompany the Union on a trip to Washington, DC, to lobby for funds to be included for mass transit within the Obama Administration’s pending jobs bill, which could result in an infusion of $210 million to bus service, subway service and to save jobs. This legislation may be New York City’s last chance for additional federal funding for mass transit, as the federal transit reauthorization legislation, which sunsetted last year, is not scheduled to be taken up by Congress in 2010.

President Barack Obama announced the allocation of $7.9 billion of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding for the creation of high-speed intercity passenger rail service during a town hall meeting in Tampa, Fl. on Jan. 28.

Projects in the West Region will receive almost $3 billion; the Midwest Region will receive $2.6 billion; Southeast region, $1.9 billon; Northeast Region, $485 million, and $26.7 million in additional awards are allocated for Iowa and Fort Worth, Tx.

Wisconsin received a grant for $810 million for the Milwaukee-to-Madison portion of the corridor, and an additional $12 million to provide for improvements on the line near the Milwaukee airport. Minnesota was awarded $600,000 to extend the line to the Twin Cities. California will receive $2.25 billion, Florida will be awarded $1.25 billion for the Tampa to Orlando segment, and Illinois will receive $1.1 billion for the Chicago Hub Network from Chicago to St. Louis. Additionally, Washington will receive $590 million, North Carolina was awarded $520 million, and Ohio will receive $400 million for the Cleveland to Cincinnati line. Read the full details of the plan here.

At the town hall meeting in Tampa Obama said: “Through the Recovery Act, we are making the largest investment in infrastructure since the Interstate Highway System was created, putting Americans to work rebuilding our roads, bridges, and waterways for the future. That investment is how we can break ground across the country, putting people to work building high-speed rail lines, because there’s no reason why Europe or China should have the fastest trains when we can build them right here in America.”

Rep. James L. Oberstar (Minn.), Chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure said: “A robust, high-speed rail system will go a long way toward solving some of our nation’s economic, energy, environmental, and transportation challenges. For example, congestion is crippling our major cities and small towns, and our infrastructure is aging at an alarming rate. According to the Texas Transportation Institute, traffic congestion in 2007 cost $87.2 billion, including 4.2 billion hours of delay and 2.8 billion gallons of wasted fuel, in our nation’s metropolitan areas. Solving the problem of congestion will take more than just building new roads, and high-speed rail is a key part of the solution."

According to the Christian Science Montior: "Over all, once built out, a national high-speed network would cut oil use by 125 million barrels a year, says Rob McCullock, transportation advocate for Environment America, a citizen-based environmental advocacy group."

The AFL-CIO reported Feb. 3 that a new report released by the Center for Economic and Policy Research found that joining a union would be good for workers in every state because union members receive better pay and benefits than nonunion workers.

"The Unions of States," released on Feb. 3 by the Center for Economic and Policy Research studied union membership rates, size of union workforce and wage and benefit advantages for union workers in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Read the full report here.

Read the AFL-CIO's full article here .