Beaumont, TX – After Transit Management of Beaumont/First Transit walked away from the negotiations table Beaumont Transit workers represented by Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1031 unanimously voted to reject the employer’s “final offer” and authorized union leadership to call a strike if necessary.
Local 1031, representing employees, including bus operators, mechanics, and cleaners says prior to the vote Transit Management of Beaumont/First Transit also refused to set any additional dates for negotiations.
“We have been going to the table with Transit Management of Beaumont/First Transit for almost nine months, asking for a fair contract only to get told time and time again that they have nothing to offer us,” said President/Business Agent Arlon Jackson. “Our members have been coming to work faithfully under terrible working conditions only to continue to be treated as if they and their families don’t matter.”
Jackson says that Transit Management of Beaumont/First Transit and the City of Beaumont’s lack of respect for the workers has united the workforce and set the stage for a potential strike. 69% of eligible voters turned out, and 100% voted against the offer and in favor of authorizing a strike.
Beaumont City Council awarded First Transit, a private multinational corporation, the contract to manage the system back in October 2020 “The Union has tried going to Beaumont City Council to get assistance during the contract dispute, but the buck continues to be passed,” Jackson continued. “When we proved that this company cuts corners on safety, with 89% of buses unfit for service, the city remained silent. When we delivered a petition to Kyle Hayes signed by nearly 300 Beaumont residents supporting our request for a fair contract, the city remained silent. As the saying goes, ‘If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.’”
Jackson says that the Union is in no rush to disrupt service, but the vote grants union leaders the authority to do so when necessary. “The last thing we want to do is impact our riders,” Jackson said, “but if that’s what we have to do to get city leaders to stop treating us like dirt, we are prepared to do so.”
ATU played a key role in helping the City of Beaumont to secure grants worth 6.2 million for the CARES ACT and an additional $670,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act, for which the leaders of ATU International lobbied in Congress.
“These workers have been keeping Beaumont moving throughout the pandemic. They won’t stand by and be treated like this,” said ATU International President John Costa. “They call us heroes, but at the table they give us nothing but zeroes. These workers are standing strong and united by sending a message to Transit Management of Beaumont/First Transit that they demand respect and a fair contract.”