The bus drivers’ union move is wise. The Sun Tran conversation is about the worker at its core—both the working class people who rely on transit for its core purpose (transportation) and the unionized bus drivers who make it possible. When councilmembers decided to extend fare-free transit, they floated the idea of using CSOs at bus stops to keep the peace, but that hasn’t happened yet (it seemed like a logical first step that required some urgency, instead of the sendoff celebration for the city attorney that used about 30 mins of the subsequent council meeting). Meanwhile, we have had 9 instances of violence (one death) at bus stops in the past year (most recently an elderly man was assaulted in an unprovoked way at an eastside stop). Council will likely have to choose between fare-free transit and having drivers, because this action from the union portends a strike.
We all remember the 42 day strike in 2017 with the drivers. It was largely about pay, but they also won some concessions for improved security for the drivers.
I dont really understand the conflation of drivers wanting more protection and free fares. Driver protection should not be an issue-- it should be provided. This is what the Teamsters apoear to be rightly pissed off at our city council for. Yet they are not backing Shubert for her backing of fare free transit ( ir at least thats how i understand the article. . Tucson is not the only burg in the country with fare free transit-- at all. What are other cities seeing and doing to keep their drivers happy! Why cant we do that? I haven't understood the dems inability to get this done but i will be very surprised if the repubs do anything to benefit either the working folks who take the bus or those who drive it. Acting like we all ( should) understand that if we just price unhoused people out of services we will solve the problem does little to help. Can't we just get drivers protected and keep the fairs free?
The bus drivers’ union move is wise. The Sun Tran conversation is about the worker at its core—both the working class people who rely on transit for its core purpose (transportation) and the unionized bus drivers who make it possible. When councilmembers decided to extend fare-free transit, they floated the idea of using CSOs at bus stops to keep the peace, but that hasn’t happened yet (it seemed like a logical first step that required some urgency, instead of the sendoff celebration for the city attorney that used about 30 mins of the subsequent council meeting). Meanwhile, we have had 9 instances of violence (one death) at bus stops in the past year (most recently an elderly man was assaulted in an unprovoked way at an eastside stop). Council will likely have to choose between fare-free transit and having drivers, because this action from the union portends a strike.
We all remember the 42 day strike in 2017 with the drivers. It was largely about pay, but they also won some concessions for improved security for the drivers.
The Republican legislature is too busy spending $1m on flying cars as to put security on public transit. It boggles the mind.
I dont really understand the conflation of drivers wanting more protection and free fares. Driver protection should not be an issue-- it should be provided. This is what the Teamsters apoear to be rightly pissed off at our city council for. Yet they are not backing Shubert for her backing of fare free transit ( ir at least thats how i understand the article. . Tucson is not the only burg in the country with fare free transit-- at all. What are other cities seeing and doing to keep their drivers happy! Why cant we do that? I haven't understood the dems inability to get this done but i will be very surprised if the repubs do anything to benefit either the working folks who take the bus or those who drive it. Acting like we all ( should) understand that if we just price unhoused people out of services we will solve the problem does little to help. Can't we just get drivers protected and keep the fairs free?