National Day of Action to Defend Public Transit! (4/4/12)

Mon Apr 02, 2012 at 06:30 AM PDT

by Hyde Park JohnnyFollow

National Day of Action to Defend Public Transit!
Wednesday, April 4, 6 pm
In Chicago: Protest at CTA Headquarters (567 W. Lake)
Directions(Green Line - Clinton Stop)
Info: 773-463-0311
Occupy Chicago Facebook Event

Riders and Transit Workers Stand Together and Organize to Defend Transit Funding and Workers Rights!

No Transit Cuts:  Make the Billionaires and Banks Pay Up! Money for Transit, Not War!

The April 4 National Day of Action for Public Transportation was initiated by Occupy Boston and is supported by the Amalgamated Transit Union International (www.ATU.org). Actions are taking place in over 18 cities. In Chicago, ATU Local 241 is supporting the action along with Occupy Chicago, ANSWER Chicago, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization and NoCTAcuts.org.

Across the nation and in Chicago, transit funding and transit unions are under attack. The Emanuel administration's most recent attack against transit came in the form of a threat against workers. Outrageously, the city wants to eliminate work safety rules that save lives. The fat cats who run city hall also want to take $230 million out of the workers pockets over the next two years--all while the city continues to dole out huge tax breaks and subsidies to billionaire corporations like the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Boeing and United Airlines.

Let's Fight Back: ANSWER Chicago urges everyone who can to join this very important action to save public transit and defend transit workers.

Seattle Transit Workers Action April 4, 2012

Seattle ATU 587 Takes Party Of National Day Of Action For Public Transportation

APRIL 4 2012: National Day of Action for Public Transportation

The Amalgamated Transit Union 587 -- Union of Metro / King County transit workers -- will spearhead a day of action in Seattle to DEFEND PUBLIC TRANSIT. Their theme:
"Don't let your commute get thrown under the bus."

This action, in collaboration with the Seattle Transit Riders Union, begins at 11 AM AT 6TH AND ROYAL BROUGHAM (near Safeco Stadium and the-3 busway). Participants will "occupy a bus" (or buses and trains) and travel to downtown for a rally at Westlake (4th and Pine.) From there participants will leaflet buses. Please join Union transit workers, and bus riders to help defend public transit. This is part of a national day of action called by International ATU, and that includes the demand to

STOP THE WAR, AND USE THE MONIES TO FUND PUBLIC TRANSIT AND OTHER VITAL PUBLIC SERVICES.

Across the U.S. public transit has suffered severe cutbacks andlayoffs -- even as gas prices rise, along with the need for expanded bus service. In Pierce and Snohomish Counties, transit service has been cut by more than 25 percent. In King County, fares have SKYROCKETED 80 PERCENT! in 4 years. THE ATTACK ON PUBLIC TRANSIT IS AN ATTACK ON THE WORKING CLASS. This is an opportunity to push back. Please help forward and distribute the attached leaflet to your union, co-workers, friends, family. Spread the word. Let's say,

TRANSPORTATION IS A HUMAN RIGHT! NO PRIVATIZATION, NO CUTS, NO FARE HIKES, NO EXCUSES! FUNDPUBLIC TRANSIT!

See you Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Organized Workers for Labor Solidarity OWLS@riseup.net

OCCUPY TRIMET APRIL 4, 2012

By Occupy Portland

A National Day of Action in Defense of Public Transportation

 

“With fare hikes and cuts to service at TriMet looming on the horizon, Occupy Portland joins Occupy Boston’s call for a national day of action on April …4th in defense of public transportation. ‘Occupy TriMet’ will be a local day of action in support of reliable, affordable transit throughout our region.

On April 4th, 1967, Martin Luther King stated profoundly that “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.” The 1% has wasted trillions of dollars fighting oil wars that should have gone towards building and funding the greatest public transportation system in the world. We shouldn’t have to be fighting each other for scraps to fund transit in the richest nation on the planet.

Amalgamated Transit Union International President Larry Hanley has endorsed A4, stating, “Public transportation is a human right and critical to our nation’s economic recovery. The ATU pledges our support for the Occupy National Day of Action for Public Transportation. It is so appropriate that these actions take place on the anniversary of Dr. King’s April 4th, 1967 speech ‘Beyond Vietnam’ because this crisis is about the toll and resources these wars have taken on working people and their families.”

We recognize that public transportation is absolutely essential for the 99% to get from home to work, to school, to doctors appointments, but we also realize that public transit is about more than moving from point A to point B. The streets used to be places where people gathered to engage one another. Unfortunately, 100 years of building for automobiles has seen rural road design replacing urban street design. The result is neighborhoods where people are forced to drive a car, and with millions of Americas barely able to afford housing, paying thousands of dollars a year for a vehicle simply isn’t an option.

Portland is a place worth caring about because of the positive ways that good planning and transit help define space. City centers should be places of social interaction, of festivities, of shopping, of performance, music, and art. We have made it easy to experience all those things and more in Portland by creating a strong network of public tranpsortation. Occupy TriMet plans to utilize many of those kind of activities on April 4th, to remind people that when you create modes of transit for people, the places in between become healthy, vibrant communities as well.

It is for all of these reasons that we will take action on A4, to engage and encourage the public to help solutions to take shape. We have a great variety of direct actions to deliver positive information, statistics, and proposed solutions that anyone can participate in. This is a day of empowerment for the people. Public transportation is the heartbeat of any major city. A4 will be a day to support our own livelihoods, and help it thrive. We invite everyone to come out and get involved.

‘Occupy TriMet’ demands public transit funding for all! Investments in rail must be matched by investment in buses to maintain a strong network. No more cuts to service. No more fare hikes. TriMet workers earning living wage with progressive benefits are no longer to be blamed. Degrading our public transit network will no longer be tolerated!”

Date: April 4 2012
Time: 4pm
Location: Pioneer Courthouse Square (SW side)
More info:
https://www.facebook.com/...
This event was approved by the Occupy Portland Spokes Council and will be presented at the General Assembly on 4/1/2012