MILWAUKEE – March 24, 2023 – Today, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 998 will testify at the Milwaukee County Security Task Force meeting, demanding MCTS and the County Board increase security measures to protect drivers and riders.
Transit workers have been raising concerns about safety on the buses for nearly a year after the COVID crisis and subsequent city-wide uptick in crime. ATU is demanding MCTS take security of drivers and buses seriously.
ATU members will testify at the task force meeting to the security issues facing drivers on the buses. Their experiences highlight how a small number of disturbed passengers can put the safety of everyone on the bus in danger, made worse by slow and ineffective responses from MCTS and transit security.
“ATU bus operators have bravely served Milwaukee County night and day, during difficult times, including the COVID pandemic and aftermath. All we ask is that MCTS prioritize our safety rather than sweep attacks on drivers under the rug. We need a rapid response when our drivers ask for help, they get the support they need.”
ATU is demanding the County increase oversight on MCTS to ensure the prioritization of safety and security and security on buses in the following ways: increasing the presence of and improving the responses of transit security officers, adding law enforcement to high incident bus routes and times, and using a transparent reporting system that works for operators and improves the ability of MCTS and the union to assess and respond to incidents when they happen.
“Our members have lost confidence in MCTS and its security agency’s ability to protect drivers and riders. MCTS works to discourage drivers from reporting incidents and their security agency is slow to respond when called. The obstacles that they put in front of operators to make it harder to report tells us they don’t take our safety seriously.
“We are frightened about receiving a phone call, informing us that we lost a Brother or Sister in the line of duty. Drivers will quit after facing shootings, stabbings, threats and other violence on buses because they don’t get support from MCTS. We need the County to step up and increase security on the buses through use of law enforcement and improved private security,” ATU President Donnell Shorter said.
Members and officers will be available for comment.
Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 998, established in 1934, represents over 1,100 active members in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Kenosha and Sheboygan. Our members are the bus drivers, mechanics, station attendants, and other support personnel who make safe, efficient, and affordable public transportation possible. Learn more at ATU998.org.
