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The international Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) has imposed the trusteeship on Local 788 in St. Louis — saying the local has a budget deficit of more than $930,000.

In a trusteeship, a main union suspends the autonomy of a local unit and appoints trustees to assume the duties that had been performed by local officials.

The international union, based in Silver Spring, Maryland, on June 10 with the U.S. Department of Labor. It remains in force for 18 months, unless the international union asks for an extension.

That filing cited “corruption� and “malpractice� as reasons for establishing the trusteeship.

Local 788 represents about 2,600 bus drivers, light-rail operators and associated service employees for Metro Transit, as well as some school bus drivers in Missouri and the Metro East.

The international union’s web page no longer lists the top three officers of Local 788. ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were president Reginald M. “Reggieâ€� Howard; first vice president Catina Wilson Howard, Reggie’s wife; and Antoian Johnson, financial secretary.

Records in the filing show the St. Louis local has a budget deficit of $931,251 — based on $255,412 in total assets and almost $1.2 million in liabilities.

The liabilities include about $800,000 in “payroll tax and withholding liabilities,� and about $300,000 in local union money that is normally paid to the international union for administrative and legal work.

Also included as liabilities are about $75,000 in unspecified bills, and more than $1,200 in Missouri personal property taxes.

The recent trusteeship filing says Local 788 had “an inability to meet financial obligations, excessive financial liabilities, and a payroll and compensation structure which is beyond the current means of the local union.�

The international also claims in the filing that the local failed to file audits; disbursed “local union funds without adequate financial controls;� and failed to follow accepted procedures and practices.

In 2022, the Labor Department that Local 788 had been paying annual salaries and other compensation of more than $90,000 to its three top officers: Reggie Howard, who made $104,487; Catina Howard, at $94,376; and Johnson, at $92,716.

The local also paid 14 shop stewards a total of about $230,000, with compensation ranging from $1,280 to almost $40,000, the 2022 report shows.

Also, the 2022 Labor Department report shows that the local’s assets were up until 2021. Since then, liabilities have increased by more than $1 million, while assets have increased only by about $156,000.

In brief telephone interviews Tuesday, Catina Howard and Johnson said they were no longer officers and referred questions to the international union.

Reginald Howard, who has been the local’s president and business agent since 2017, could not be reached for comment.

The union now is being run by two out-of-town trustees, both of them high-ranking officials of the international union: executive vice president Yvette Trujillo, of Silver Spring, Maryland; and vice president Jacques Chapman, of Rochester, New York.

Neither Trujillo nor an international union spokesperson responded to telephone messages.Trujillo also was not available for comment at Local 788’s office at 1611 South Broadway, near Soulard.

The website of the , which represents about 200,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada, does not include any information about the trusteeship.

Local 788 was founded in 1918 by striking workers with United Railways of St. Louis. The rank-and-file last approved a three year contract in 2023 with the Bi-State Development Agency, the parent company of Metro Transit.

“I want to stress that this issue is separate from Bi-State Development, and we are not able to comment on the internal administrative operations of ATU Local 788,� Bi-State vice president Kevin Scott said in a statement.

made an unsuccessful bid last year to become a state representative for Missouri’s 75th District in north St. Louis County. She lost a close Democratic primary race in August to Chanel Mosley.

In that race, Howard benefited from her connections to the international union, which contributed $2,000 to her campaign. Also, the international’s president, John A. Costa, kicked in $500 and the treasurer, Kenneth R. Kirk, donated $139. Costa and Kirk also both signed the filing to impose a trusteeship on the local.

Catina Howard also used Johnson, the local union’s financial secretary, as her campaign treasurer.