The city buses will not roll today as JATRAN employees went on strike at 3 AM today. WAPT reported:
MV Transportation issued the following statement.MV Transportation has partnered with the City of Jackson since January 2024 to manage the city’s fixed route and paratransit services. We are deeply disappointed the union has chosen to execute a strike, placing an unnecessary burden on those who rely on our services to get to work, school, and life-saving appointments. We want to be clear about the reason for this unnecessary and counterproductive strike. Over the last several months, the union has made a number of inaccurate or baseless charges, and we have patiently corrected the record. Despite those misrepresentations, we have engaged in constructive negotiations to address outstanding issues for a collective bargaining agreement between MV and the union. Through those efforts, we have agreed on dozens of issues and only have one unresolved CBA provision, literally involving just one word. You may wonder, what was the one word that was so bad that the union would not agree or even continue to negotiate? Simply put, MV believes strongly that certain unsafe behaviors “will” lead to an employee no longer providing service to the people of Jackson – not, as the union insisted, “may” be terminated in order to create an excuse for them to launch months-long protests to prevent accountability. For example: • If a driver were to be cited for hitting a pedestrian while driving, we believe that driver is unsafe and must no longer provide service. • Similarly, if a driver fails to properly secure a wheelchair-bound passenger, we believe that the driver is unsafe and must no longer provide service. • Likewise, if a driver causes a fatality, we believe that driver is unsafe and must no longer provide service. We observe these very reasonable standards in over 100 locations across the United States. They are the reason we provide the safest possible service to our customers; we believe strongly that the people of Jackson deserve the same safety standards and protections. Unfortunately, the union leadership does not agree with our position. They appear to believe – and they have apparently decided to strike over this single issue – that an employee can commit such egregious safety violations and still continue to work in the same job, putting passengers, fellow citizens, and employees at risk, while they protest any efforts to terminate that unsafe employee. Our highest priority is the safety of our passengers, our employees, and our fellow Jackson citizens, and the standards that provide this safety must take priority over the job of anyone who violates these safety standards. We believe anyone who appreciates this reasonable, common-sense standard will understand our position and recognize that the self-interested approach put forth by union leadership would prevent accountability cannot take priority over passenger safety. MV will cooperate with JTRAN and City officials to accommodate service, especially life-essential trips, as appropriate and as permitted.
23 comments:
That will save the city money. When was the last time, if ever, it turned a profit?
The nice thing about strikes is that they create job openings. JTran is hiring with what appears to be responsible and attentive new management.
We have mass transportation in Jackson? Could've fooled me.
Are they arguing over combat pay?
Employee on news this morning: I knew I did something wrong (never says what) but they aint' have to fire me.
Synopsis: This new boss is actually holding us accountable and we don't like it.
I laughed and laughed and laughed. I was a tail gunner on a school bus there.
Profit? When was the last time, if ever, the system broke even? Next to certain they recover less than 20% of operational costs from fares. JATRAN is another subsidization sinkhole like the red-ink gulping convention center and the zoo.
The Council dog-and-pony show to the Zoo was a hoot. Banks is off the reservation now thinking he can win by being Lumumba-lite.
JTRAN believes hit and runs are acceptable.
Holding drivers accountable is a critical line in the sand.
This, my friends is Jackson
I bet Lumumba hates when Democrat tactics are used AGAINST him.
"My name is Chowke the Marxist Mayor and I approve this strike."
Are public services supposed to “turn a profit?”
It was all about workers rights when Mayor Cheap Fake wanted WM out of the picture. Then when it was revealed that Richards treats their workers like crap, worse than WM, Cheap Fake was nowhere to be found.
When was the last time your local roads turned a profit?
Not the stop light department!
Police are also not required to turn a profit.
Kingfish, isn't past time to change the name of this place to "Jackghanistan Palaw?" We have a bunch of, er, Taliwhackers in change and everything!
I would like to know how many drivers are on strike - & better yet - how many riders are affected. Those numbers would give us some idea of the strike's impact.
Union, that’s all you need to know. The most worthless, irresponsible, whiny, overpaid people around.
September 4, 2024 at 9:26 AM
At bare minimum break even. "Turning a profit" would be generating a surplus for government services. Which JTRAN clearly doesn't.
I guess I'd be wasting my time to ask how many 'riders' use the system to get to and from a job.
There are city buses?
How many of the 'hungry travelers' assigned a shift at the St. D/Lakeland corner of 55 use these buses to get to and from their panhandling job? It would be a shame if that corner were not 'worked' one morning.
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