ATU Seeks Justice from DART
Members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1338 and their supporters picketed at one of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit ofacilities, corner Main & Peak, on the morning of February 22. Since their agreement expired in December, they have been seeking better wages, benefits, and working conditions since. They urge all supporters to come to the public DART meeting at 6 PM on February 26 at 1401 Pacific Avenue in downtown Dallas.
Picketers yelled, "A-T-U, We Are One!" and "No More Cabs!" The subcontractor presently doing DART's business has brought in taxicabs to replace many of the union drivers. According to President Kenneth Day, service has deteriorated. The union drivers and mechanics are also facing layoffs and increases in health care costs. Almost everybody on the picket line was a non-white "minority." Many union members and a great many of the riding public, too, are still classified as "minorities" even though the "minorities" are now the "majority" in most Texas cities.
During Black History Month, February, and keeping in mind that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr often spoke about the close ties between civil rights and union issues, people should get behind these efforts.