------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Sept. 28, 2000 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- RIDERS BLAME TRANSIT BOSSES: WIDE SUPPORT FOR LOS ANGELES STRIKERS Shutdown Halts Buses, Subways & Rail Lines By Preston Wood Los Angeles Members of Los Angeles United Transit Union, representing 4,300 bus drivers and train operators, headed for the picket lines Sept. 16 after negotiations broke down with the Metropolitan Transit Authority. The strike shut down the nation's second-largest transit system, including buses, subways and rail lines. Los Angeles County Federation of Labor head Miguel Contreras and UTU President James Williams denounced the MTA for failing to negotiate in good faith with the drivers. "The union," Contreras said, "feels it is being forced out on strike because of management's failure to bargain seriously. "Talks have not been fruitful. Talks have not been productive." Contreras explained that MTA negotiators sent to meet with the union lacked any power to reach an agreement. Throughout the talks negotiators were forced to confer by telephone with elected officials before agreeing on points of discussion. UNIONS HONOR PICKET LINES Two other unions--the Transportation Communications International Union, representing 650 clerical workers, and the Amalgamated Transit Union, representing 1,800 mechanics-- struck the MTA in solidarity with the drivers and operators. Dozens of unions are honoring the drivers' picket lines. Five shuttle buses from Union Station were cancelled June 18 after Teamster drivers refused to cross picket lines, the Associated Press reported. At stake is the workers' refusal to agree to $2 million in givebacks. The MTA wants to reduce drivers' pay by 15 percent by shifting to a four-day workweek. They would be forced to work 10-to-12-hour days with no overtime pay. The MTA also wants to reduce overtime by hiring more part- time drivers, who would eventually replace full-time drivers through attrition. In addition to what the MTA calls "creating a new workweek", management wants to cut benefits for union members. Today the MTA pleads poverty. But the agency has long been wracked by charges that it mismanages funds and plans poorly. Five years ago the MTA built itself a 26-story glass- domed headquarters. Management now seeks to shift its deficit--said to be $430 million over the next decade--onto the backs of drivers, clerical workers, mechanics and engineers. The MTA threatens to raise bus and subway fares if it doesn't get its way. The MTA falsely claims that all drivers and operators make around $50,000 a year. In reality, entry-level bus drivers make just $8 an hour. Only a tiny number of veteran drivers make $20 an hour, after many years on the job. SOLIDARITY FROM RIDERS Despite a massive media campaign to pit the public against the strikers, even the anti-labor Los Angeles Times admitted Sept. 16 that there is overwhelmingly support for the workers--especially from those who ride the buses and trains every day. Sixty-eight percent of the 500,000 workers who use the buses and subways each day earn less than $15,000 per year. Over three-quarters are Black and Latino and many are immigrant workers. "I blame the MTA for making it a difficult situation," said Shepard Petit, a disabled student who takes the bus to college. Meanwhile, unions and community organizations vow to mount activities in support of the striking workers. "This fight concerns all of us," said John Parker of the Los Angeles International Action Center. "We are eager to join with everyone in Los Angeles to mount a campaign in solidarity with the striking MTA workers. The banks and corporations should be taxed to provide better wages and benefits for the transit workers and more service for those who depend on public transportation. "We're confident that the union will be victorious," Parker said. - END - (Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) ------------------ This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
