Author Archive: Dan Yablonsky

Recap of 6/8 Save Our Public Transit March

PPT led a spirited demonstration to Save Our Public Transit on Friday, June 8th in Downtown Pittsburgh.  Over 200 transit riders and workers marched together to call for more public transit—not less.  Besides demanding a stop to bus cuts, speakers called upon lawmakers to create a dedicated source of funding for transportation and upon corporations and massive “nonprofit” companies like UPMC to pay their “fare” share for our transit system.  At the end of the rally, a dozen transit advocates performed nonviolent civil disobedience in a sit-down on Fifth Ave and were arrested.  They issued this statement in advance.
Read the Post Gazette’s article here!

Read the report in the City Paper here!

See the Tribune-Review’s recap here!

Watch WTAE’s news coverage here!
Thank you to all the organizations that endorsed and supported this action (ATU, One Pittsburgh, UE, Unite Here, ISO Pittsburgh, WIL, USW, PIIN, Sierra Club Allegheny Group, USW, PSL, IWW, Occupy Pittsburgh, and Thomas Merton Center).   
Thank you so much to everyone who showed up to stand together for transit—let’s keep up the fight!

Save Our Public Transit Demonstration 6/8

SAVE OUR PUBLIC TRANSIT!
March & Rally 
        
Friday, June 8th at 3:00 PM
Meet at 11 Stanwix Street (the corner of Stanwix St and Fort Pitt Blvd in Downtown Pittsburgh).  

The Pennsylvania General Assembly is about to go into summer recess without any solution to the state’s transportation funding crisis in place–it’s time to send a loud and clear message to our decisionmakers that we demand a dedicated source of funding for public transit now that does not balance the budget on the backs of workers, students, and our most vulnerable citizens while giving tax breaks to corporations.

JOIN PPT along with the ATU Local 85, One Pittsburgh, UFCW Local 23, Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network, Sierra Club Allegheny Group, Workers International League, United Electrical Workers, United Steelworkers, International Socialist Organization, Thomas Merton Center, Unite Here! and Occupy Pittsburgh TO SAY:
NO to cuts, fare hikes, layoffs, privatization, and union busting!  

YES to dedicated funding for public transportation and corporations paying their “fare” share! 

CHECK OUT THE POSTER FOR THE EVENT HERE.  FEEL FREE TO SHARE IT WITH ALL YOUR FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS AND HELP US SPREAD THE WORD!

Community Meetings on Transit 5/19/12

There are two Community Meetings on Transit coming up on Saturday, May 19th.

*The first, hosted by Pittsburghers for Public Transit, is at 1:00 PM at The Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation’s Community Activity Center (113 N Pacific Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15224).

Join PPT and the ATU to discuss the public transportation crisis in Pennsylvania and ways to organize against service cuts in your neighborhood.

*The second, hosted by The Battle of Homestead Foundation, is at 1:30 PM at The Pump House (880 E Waterfront Drive, Munhall PA 15120).

Join representatives from the ATU, UCFW, Unite Here, and PPT for a forum about the transit crisis in Pittsburgh and what can be done about it.

ATU RALLY 4/27

PLEASE JOIN THE AMALGAMATED TRANSIT UNION’S LOCAL 85 FOR A RALLY TO SAY NO TO THE PORT AUTHORITY’S 35% SERVICE REDUCTION PLANNED FOR SEPTEMBER

WHERE: 345 6TH AVE., PITTSBURGH PA
WHEN: FRIDAY, APRIL 27TH, 2012 at 8:45AM
 
WE WILL ATTEND THE PORT AUTHORITY BOARD MEETING AT WHICH THEY WILL BE VOTING TO APPROVE THE JULY FARE INCREASES AND SEPTEMBER SERVICE CUTS.  AFTERWARDS, WE WILL MARCH TO GOVERNOR TOM CORBETT’S OFFICE TO DEMAND THAT HE IMPLEMENT THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF HIS OWN TRANSPORTATION FUNDING ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

WE NEED COMMUNITY AND LABOR SUPPORT TO SAVE THIS VITAL SERVICE!  HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE.

ANY QUESTIONS – CALL MIKE HARMS at 412-715-5212

National Day of Action to Stop Transit Cuts! Defend Pittsburgh Public Transit!

When: Wednesday April 4th 12:00 PM

Where: City-County Building – 414 Grant Street Downtown Pittsburgh

Pittsburghers for Public Transit, ATU Local 85, and Occupy Pittsburgh will rally against the local proposed cut to transit service and fare hikes while calling attention to the war and financial crimes perpetrated by the US government and Giant Banks stealing money from the public and crushing human rights!

Public transportation is a right and must be accessible to all. Service cuts and fare hikes will have a devastating and disproportionate impact on low-income communities, communities of color, students, workers, seniors and the environment. We say NO TO PRIVATIZATION of our common resources and NO MORE EXCUSES! We will not accept any funding strategies that attempt to divide the 99% against each other or shift the burden onto the backs of the 99%: the poor and working classes. End the wars and tax the rich!

On April 4th, we will stand together to demand public transportation for the 99%. If our call is not answered and the necessary funds redirected, it will only add to the growing body of evidence that our government no longer represents us.

On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Exactly one year prior, he delivered a speech against the war in Vietnam and said:

“…America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube.”

Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/293768940696383/

RALLY TO SAVE TRANSIT – WEDNESDAY FEB 29 12 PM

Our public transit system is facing the most drastic cuts in service to date!

POTENTIAL LOSS OF 35% OF SERVICE, 50% OF ROUTES AND 500 JOBS

Take action to fight for public investment in transportation and demand that corporations pay there “fare” share. Pittsburghers for Public Transit, ATU Local 85, and Occupy Pittsburgh will be rallying outside of the public comment hearings at the David Lawrence Convention Center on Wednesday February 29th at Noon to demand that the proposed cuts be rejected and that a permanent solution to the funding crisis facing public transit be found!

During the rest of the day, the Port Authority will hold a public hearing on the proposed cuts from 8 am to 8 pm at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Downtown Pittsburgh. To register for a 3 minute slot to make testimony, call 412.566.5437 (TTY 412.231.7007) from 9 am to 3:30 pm on weekdays.

www.pittsburghersforpublictransit.org

www.occupypittsburgh.org

Pittsburghers for Public Transit on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pittsburghers-for-Public-Transit/192650014094458

Leafletting Events- Feb. 14, 24, 28

Join Occupy Pittsburgh, Pittsburghers for Public Transit, our union member sisters and brothers, and other residents to distribute post cards on buses, at bus stops, and at congested intersections to mobilize the public in support of public transit.
Meet and pick up flyers between 3:30 and 5:00 PM at one of the two action locations and learn more details about the proposed cuts, the campaign, and how you can help. 

Action Locations:
Downtown: People’s Park/a.k.a Mellon Green (6th & Grant)
Oakland: Schenley Plaza (Forbes & Bigelow)
Additional outreach days are planned for the same locations on Friday Feb. 24 and Tuesday Feb. 28. PLEASE JOIN US!

Emergency Rally Against Transit Cuts! TOMORROW 1/26

Tomorrow morning the Port Authority Board of Directors will be meeting to officially vote on the proposed 35% transit cuts. Join members of Pittsburghers for Public Transit and ATU Local 85 to demand that PAT stand up for transit riders and workers!

Where: The Heinz Building, 345 6th Avenue Downtown Pittsburgh

When: 8:15 AM – 10:00 AM

NO CUTS!
NO LAYOFFS!
DEFEND AND EXPAND OUR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM!

Transit funding needs a fix – we know how, tax the rich!

Marchers rallying on the steps of East Liberty Presbyterian Church

By Jonna Jamie

Pittsburgh, PA- On September 24, 2011 200 Pittsburghers marched down Penn Avenue through the neighborhood of East Liberty demanding “more transit, not less” and “no more cuts” to the bus routes in Allegheny County and beyond. The march and rally was organized by Pittsburghers for Public Transit (PPT) and endorsed by the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 85, amongst others. The people in attendance were diverse but the message was a focused one. The crowd was a mix of ages, creeds and skin colors. PPT’s slogan rang visually true: we all need transit.

The march ended at East Liberty Presbyterian Church, where the marchers and onlookers gathered to show their energy and listen to speakers. Andrew Wagner of PPT kicked off the rally by saying “If they can cut the guts out of the postal service nationally, just imagine what they can do to transit in Allegheny County. This is a class war against working class people in this country. We need not to rely on Republican and Democrat votes, but on our own strength.”

William Anderson of The Black Political Empowerment Project followed Mr. Wagner’s theme, stating “This is a class issue. This has nothing to do with race, gender, creed… it is a war on poor people. We will not stand for this class attack where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.”

“On Thanksgiving in 2010, we woke up to see in the newspaper that the Allegheny County Port Authority cut transit 40 percent,” said Pat McMahon, President of the ATU Local 85. “ Dan Onorato and the Board of Directors cannot deny any longer that this is a war against working people. That is the politics of Allegheny County and the democrats we voted for. It is class warfare brothers and sisters, and we need to do something about it…are you with us?” Mr. McMahon represents 22,000 Allegheny County transit workers.

“We need to go down to the garage and not let any of those buses roll out until they all can roll out,” said Jim Bonner, a laid-off bus driver who has taken to organizing since his layoff in March.

On March 27, cuts eliminated 29 routes, trimmed service on most others and threw 180 union workers out of their jobs. According to Port Authority figures released on June 15, ridership for April and May was off by 9.5 percent compared with April and May 2010. “This is not unique to Pittsburgh,” said Antonio Lodico of Western Pennsylvania’s We Are One Coalition. “Right now all over the country they [the rich] are attempting to destroy public gain for private good.”

Some in attendance view the transit issue as an opportunity to push for a political campaign. “We [working people] are fighting with one hand tied behind our backs and we need to form a labor party. One that is built by and for working people,” said Karl Belin of the Campaign for a Mass Party of Labor.

“Pittsburgh is currently trying to establish itself as a “green city,” leading the way in innovative environmentally-friendly jobs, technologies, and policies,” posts PPT on their website. “Cuts to public transit would be a major step back in these efforts… we should fund the Port Authority in order to lead the way in green initiatives that benefit our environment and health by improving our air quality and reducing run-off pollution to our water supply. Increased funding would allow Port Authority to expand their hybrid fleet and further experiment with biodiesel fueling options. Public transportation infrastructure and innovation are keys to the sustainable development and general well-being of our region.”

Other speakers included Carol of Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network, Tony Spadaro of the Pittsburgh chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, and a musical performance by Mike Stout, one of Pittsburgh’s working class rock stars. Mr. Stout’s localized version of Florence Reece’s “Which Side Are You On?” was a crowd pleaser.