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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not answered and the necessary funds redirected, it will only add to the growing body of evidence that our government no longer represents us.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.

Occupy Pittsburgh / PPT Transit action!

Pittsburghers for Public Transit is partnering with our friends at Occupy Pittsburgh (http://www.occupypittsburgh.org) for the following action:

Week of Action – Occupy Pittsburgh Public Transit Action

12/16/2011 3:00 pm

As many of you know, Port Authority of Allegheny County is pondering additional service cuts – up to 35% – effective in 2012. Last March, they proposed the same number, but after public outcry, demonstrations, and work done by Pittsburghers for Public Transit (http://www.pittsburghersforpublictransit.org/), the cuts were reduced to 15%.

But funding issues continue to prevail, and riders and drivers are faced with another round of cuts, which combined with the March 2011 cuts, would reduce transit service hours in Allegheny County by 50%! A recent article explaining the cuts: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11333/1193283-53-0.stm

As part of Occupy Pittsburgh’s call for a week of action to bring attention to the issues the movement focuses on, we are partnering with Pittsburghers for Public Transit and One Pittsburgh for a transit action this Friday, December 16, 2011. Occupy Pittsburgh participants will meet at the People’s Park by 3:00 pm, then will hit the streets to take part in an action throughout downtown, focusing on local bus stops during Friday’s rush hour. A call to action will be handed out to people waiting at the stops, which explains the looming cuts to service, who they can contact to voice their concerns and request a moratorium on all cuts to transit service.

Please join us in this effort to educate and empower people to demand that transit service not be reduced, effectively putting many people – both driver and riders – in danger with their jobs and limiting or eliminating their right to transportation.

Meet by 3:00 pm at People’s Park, 6th & Grant, downtown; contacts: Maria and Calvin

See you there!

Backers of Transit Try to Mobilize

Thursday, August 11, 2011
By Dan Majors, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Community groups calling for more public transit Wednesday met in the Hill District with a clear goal: If they’re going to get people on buses, they have to get people in the streets.
“As organizers, we need to adopt the civil rights model,” said Mel Packer of Pittsburghers for Public Transit. “We put thousands of people in the streets. That’s how they listen to us. Talk to people, and we can build a mass movement.”

More than 30 residents, students and community leaders gathered in a Hill House conference room to discuss the grass-roots method they hope to use to bring more funding for public transportation.
“We — as a coalition of community groups, religious groups, workers, people who depend on those buses — need to come together and put pressure on our elected officials and let them know,” said Patrick McMahon, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85. “Our voices must be heard as a collective group. One group going [to Harrisburg] is not going to get it done. We have to organize it and do it together.
“Our elected officials have to come up with the solution. The ideas are there, whether it’s new taxes, new revenues, new fees.
The legislators have to put the pieces together and must make the tough votes for the good of the commonwealth.
“It’s not just poor communities. With the rising cost of gasoline and parking, even people who can afford cars are looking for public transportation. Transit is part of the solution, not part of the problem.”
The organizers included students, community activists, representatives from church groups and members of the Hill District Consensus Group. Some came with petitions signed by residents whose lives have been disrupted by changes in bus service.
Brittany McBryde, a member of Pittsburghers for Public Transit, said that as upset as people are about recent cuts, more cuts are likely — if residents don’t unite and act.
“We need to make it a community dialogue,” she said. “We need to show them our numbers. We’re going to host rallies and let them know that we’re not going to go away. Then they can’t ignore us.”
Those attending vowed to attend a Sept. 13 public hearing on the topic in the City-County Building’s Gold Room. There also will be a Sept. 24 rally in East Liberty and a trip to Harrisburg in the fall.
“We need to reach people who are not dependent upon transit,” said resident Dan Sullivan, explaining the need for reaching beyond the boundaries of the Hill District. “We need other people to know why it’s important.”

Dan Majors: dmajors@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1456.

First published on August 11, 2011 at 12:00 am