This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now AC Transit newsletter. AC Transit is a public bus company in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area.
AC Transit workers showed up in force to the board meeting to protest the realignment plan. There was standing room only, with workers lined up into the hallway, waiting for their chance to speak.
Many workers lined up to speak out against the realignment, explaining that there is no point in a realignment plan when the system is already broken. Workers talked about how the run times are impossible, and every single day workers have to miss their breaks, and don’t have enough time to eat their lunch. Workers talked about being repeatedly assaulted by passengers, about having no time to use the bathroom, and how some drivers even wear diapers because of emergencies. They talked about routes blocked by construction, package delivery trucks, and double parked food delivery cars, and how all of these make the run times ridiculous.
During the meeting several workers got up and talked about how workers should go on strike, or organize a sick out. And then the whole room erupted in chants of “Shut it Down! Shut it Down!”
Even though the board did pass the realignment, this was an important meeting for workers because it showed each other the anger that is shared by many drivers and workers throughout the system. This is a basis that workers can organize around in order to demand the changes they need.
