|
 Over the last several months, Central Indiana Jobs With Justice (JwJ) and Atlanta JwJ have been fighting against cuts to public transit service that would disproportionately impact people of color and low-wage workers who ride the systems, eliminate union jobs, and reduce the positive impact of mass transit on the environment. These campaigns to preserve public transit have fostered new coalition-building between union members, transit riders, and environmental activists.
The purpose of the IndyGo Workers' Rights Board (WRB) Hearing was to mount additional community pressure on the Indianapolis Public Transportation Corp. (IndyGo) to prevent the route cuts and lay-offs from planned to take effect on Sunday, June 27, 2004. JwJ believes that adequate funding of IndyGo is crucial to the economy of Indianapolis. Background on the IndyGo Cuts (Courtesy JwJ) In January of 2004, the Indianapolis Public Transportation Corp. (IndyGo) announced that it had a deficit of 4 million dollars. To address the budget deficit, management proposed that several bus routes be eliminated, eliminating access to transportation for 2,500 citizens and laying off 70 bus drivers (members of ATU 1070). IndyGo research shows that the average IndyGo rider is a female African American age 35-49 with an average annual household income of $10,000 to $20,000. 75% of IndyGo riders do not own a vehicle, so these cuts would effectively deny riders access to transportation. With the help of new organizational members ATU 1070 and ACORN Bus Riders Union, Central Indiana JwJ was able to mount a fierce opposition to the proposal and gain broad community support in favor of additional funding for IndyGo. JwJ organized many community meetings throughout the city and asked members to call the Mayor's office to voice their displeasure about the proposal. After months of continuous organizing by JwJ, Mayor Bart Peterson announced a one-time loan of two million dollars to IndyGo, reducing the impact to only 36 driver lay-offs and affecting only 500 citizens. |
