Public transportation is the life blood of every major city globally, and millions depend on it. It is also a major employer of Black workers who make up about 40 percent of the U.S. transit industry, and 47 percent here in New York City (Gothamist, 2/28/23).
Racist transit bosses can't fix subway
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)’s New York City Transit fare has risen to $2.90, as a way for the transit bosses to gouge more money from workers. Which isn’t only a racist attack on workers by harassing and profiling Black and Latin workers, but it also stands as a method to divide transit workers and the ridership. This method has led to the anger towards this capitalist system to be directed at transit workers. When capitalism is in crisis, the ruling class has no real answer to the racist unemployment, lack of housing, mental health, and drug addiction ailments their system creates. In response to the bosses’ lack of safety after a conductor was brutally slashed in the neck, train operators and conductors stuck back by refusing to operate their trains in February, causing mass service disruptions on several subway lines for a day (New York Times, 2/29)!
Union hangs workers to dry
The bosses used their state power to deploy 1,000 state police and National Guard to patrol the subway in response to these anti-social attacks (Politico, 3/7).The Transportation Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 saw this as a victory and requested more cops to patrol the platforms in the stations. This has only led to more attacks on our class. In September, transit cops shot four people in a Brooklyn subway station over a Black worker not paying $2.90. One of the bystanders shot now has permanent brain damage. This proves two things: when workers want safety, the bosses will only use that safety to protect their rule and the racist cops they claim are here to protect are prepared to kill workers to protect that rule.
The transit union has a long history of leading workers into the bosses’ hands, which is the path into further poverty. Our current contract has left us with 3 percent raises which don't keep up with inflation and a new way to deduct money from workers if they are sick and want to work overtime, but worst of all they have changed our medical insurance once we retire. Medicare Advantage is what the bosses have instituted to replace traditional Medicare. Medicare Advantage leaves retired workers paying more into their medical with hidden fees. The workers now are also the majority under Tier 6 which caps what we can earn towards our pensions. On top of all of this, many of us in different departments have had our overtime cut, and there has been a surge of non-unionized subcontract workers doing the jobs that were once ours.
Direct engagement with workers
I have recently joined with a union opposition candidate running for union president against the current leadership. I’m trying to see how I can use this as a way to organize workers to strike back and hopefully fight for a communist revolution.
Running against the TWU union leadership has reminded me of lessons from past struggles I've learned: No one running for union president can be trusted. If you're choosing to fight back, you can't leave anything for the union or bosses to use against you. Working with the aspiring union leadership makes workers question your motives, but campaigning has offered an opportunity to organize the workers.
Over the course of the last 7 years all these attacks and struggles had been slow and frustrating. Our transit comrades have been base building and struggling with other workers to take action. As our union election comes to an end we have been bringing our line to the forefront of organizing by incorporating the U.S. presidential election result. Stating to the workers that the ruling class only cares about their interests and they will use us however to achieve their goals however wins. Which is the same for this union election.
We are in a great position now to organize the workers. This will be the first anti racist anti sexist transit worker meeting with over 40 members willing to join. The plan is to start in one department and bring all the other departments close to a dozen into the fold, sharing information, struggles and actions! This is very inspiring and exciting and it's only the beginning.
I've been going out to different quarters collecting names and numbers of workers willing to fight back by starting workers’ meetings. I've gotten close to 40 contacts so far, with the enthusiasm ranging from “I don't give a f***” attitude to “Thanks for bringing the hope.” Many workers are very cynical and don't trust me, at least not until I give them a reason to. I've told them that these meetings will be built on antiracism and antisexism with the purpose of getting strike ready. I've told the candidate who I’m campaigning for that during our campaigning we need to fight for the workers now and not wait until later. She said,”We Can't do anything until we get into power.” Spoken like a true scheming boss. So I've made it a point to tell the workers it doesn't matter who wins this election; if we're not organized, then we’ve already lost. The election results are due back by the end of the month. Worker meetings will kick off in January. I'll keep y’all updated. Power to the working class!
