Minneapolis, MN – After months of negotiations with the Metropolitan Council, 2200 Twin Cities bus drivers, dispatchers, maintenance and clerical workers went on strike at 2:00 a.m., March 4. The transit workers, members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005, last struck in 1995.

At stake in this contract battle are affordable health care benefits for current workers and the future of retiree health care benefits.

The forces lined up against the bus drivers are the same right-wing politicians that striking University of Minnesota clerical workers faced last Fall. The Metropolitan Council is led by Peter Bell, a right-wing ideologue tied to the Center for the American Experiment, a far right think tank. Peter Bell represents Governor Tim Pawlenty's agenda of busting public sector unions and driving down the wages and benefits of public sector employees. Rather than deal with the health care crisis, Pawlenty and his cronies attack affordable health care for all workers.

As a member of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents, Bell spearheaded the union busting campaign against unions at the university. Clerical workers at the university, members of AFSCME Local 3800, refused to be intimidated by Bell's union busting tactics and went on strike for 15 days.

To their credit, the ATU has held strong when many other public sector unions have settled for concessionary contracts. As the strike progresses, important tactics will need to be developed for the strike to be successful. The Local 1005 leadership placed much hope in reaching a last-minute deal. In doing so, they delayed building the community coalition necessary to win this strike. There are natural constituencies in the thousands of Minnesotans who rely on public transportation, and the even larger numbers of working people in the state concerned about the health care crisis.

Governor Pawlenty and Bell do not care about the 220,000 Minnesotans who rely on public transportation. They are not part of Pawlenty's political base. However, through vocal organization, this huge base of community support can impact the success of the strike. As the strike continues, the impact on businesses which rely on low-wage bus-riding workers will intensify, pressuring Pawlenty to settle the strike.

There is a growing health care crisis in Minnesota, which Governor Pawlenty has done nothing to address – other than appointing a sham panel of health care and corporate executives to look at health care costs. The panel failed to address the issues of key importance to working people – skyrocketing premiums and lack of universal health care coverage. By linking the struggle of transit workers with the struggle for universal and quality health care for all workers, transit workers will be able to broaden the already widespread public support for the strike.

#TwinCitiesMN #MN #News #BusStrike #AmalgamatedTransitUnionLocal1005