Union to fight transit layoffs

The New York Metropolitan Transit Authority’s announcement of 800 job cuts at the end of June means that hundreds of station booths will be shut down and bus and transit service reduced across the city’s five boroughs. The MTA seeks to privatize and restructure transit for more layoffs, service cuts and fare hikes.

The Transport Workers Union Local 100 leadership said “enough already!” The union swung into action, but it is not alone. It is forming a labor/community alliance to organize to fight back and reverse the budget cuts.

On June 30 union members — including those laid off and those who are working — union officers and staff met with community organizers at the TWU hall to plan a response. The first stage of their plan entails distributing flyers at major stations and intersections, which call upon riders to come to court-ordered MTA hearings on July 13 and 14.

The MTA seeks to have the hearings follow the usual script: The authority will hold the hearings but then ignore what participants say and then move ahead with their plans. That makes the hearings a sham. The MTA has given insufficient notice to the public and provided very little publicity. The Queens hearing cannot be reached by subway, only by bus.

However, this time it will be different, as union and community organizers are swinging into action and appealing to all unions, organizations and individuals to join the campaign. Organizing teams comprised of union members and riders have been set up for each borough. The teams are going to distribute campaign flyers, which read: “The Transit System Belongs to the People. Take Back Our Stations, Buses and the Transit System.”

The newly formed Labor-Community Forum of the South Bronx Community Congress, together with TWU Local 100, will host an organizing meeting at Hostos College on July 7.

This fightback will build on a partial victory won by a recent student struggle against the MTA. Student activists beat back the MTA’s threatened plan to stop providing free and reduced-fare Metro Cards to students.

Organizers invite all members of the riding public to get involved in this campaign, to get leaflets, attend these hearings and demand a reinstatement of all jobs and transit services now. Contact Marvin Holland at 347-804-6982 for further information on MTA hearing locations and how you can get involved in this campaign.