Local Organizations Protesting CTA Budget Plans

On Jan. 18, Martin Luther King‘s birthday, a national holiday, several local organizations and individuals plan to a march to protest budget cuts that will mean layoffs for CTA workers and reduced service for local residents. According to NoCTAcuts.org, the CTA plans to layoff 1,000 bus drivers and maintenance workers. The CTA service cuts will affect 18 percent of bus service and 9 percent of train service and are set to go into effect on Feb. 7, 2010.

This rally is being organized by Public Workers Unite! and is endorsed by NoCTAcuts.org, AFSCME Local 2858, Caucus of Rank & File Educators, Jobs with Justice, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, ANSWER Chicago, Socialist Alternative, and Solidarity.

The march itself will take place on Mon. Jan. 18. It begins at 11 a.m. from CTA Headquarters and continues on to the Thompson Center. CTA Headquarters are located at 567 W. Lake (corner of Lake and Clinton), which is the Clinton stop on Green and Pink Lines.

NoCTAcuts.org explains the need for this protest as follows:

“All over the country, workers continue to face mass unemployment, severe budget cuts to education, the lose of health care, mounting foreclosures and much more. In Chicago, the official unemployment rate is over 10 percent and over 15 percent for African Americans. Funding for badly needed state and local agencies and programs are under a merciless attack at the same time trillions of dollars are being spent on endless war and Wall Street bail outs. Mayor Daley and Governor Quinn have recently handed out billions of dollars to Morgan Stanley“

For more information, contact: NoCTAcuts.org (http://www.noctacuts.org) is an initiative of ANSWER Chicago (http://www.chicagoanswer.net) and the Party for Socialism and Liberation (http://www.pslweb.org). Call us at 773-463-0311 for more information or to get involved!

Check out these related reports from WBEZ Chicago Public Radio: Mayor Daley Says Lawsuit Could Help CTA Funding, Lawsuit Alleges Racial Discrimination in Illinois Transit