As of 3am Thursday morning, the majority of Amalgamated Transit Union 1091 had gone on strike against Capital Metro, and their contractor StarTran, resulting in a dramatic drop in bus service. According to a press release from Capital Metro, a minimum of major routes are running today, all at reduced service. They include: No. 1-North Lamar/South Congress, No. 2-Rosewood, No. 3-Burnet/Manchaca, No. 7-Duval/No. 27-Dove Springs, No. 10-South First/No. 20-Manor Road, No. 15-Red River/No. 16-South Fifth, No. 17-Johnson, No. 37-Colony Park, No. 137-Colony Park Flyer, No. 300-Govalle Crosstown, and No. 325-Ohlen Crosstown. Aside from the overall impact, the one school impacted by the strike is Kealing Middle School, whose afternoon service was dependent on Cap Metro. Kris Hafezi, assistant director of transportation for AISD, said the district was �taking care of that ourselves,� and providing bus service. Capital Metro says the strike couldn�t have come at a worse time. CM Public Relations spokeswoman Libba Letton said the transit authority was �hoping to provide some services to help evacuate people from the coast � (we were) planning on doing that until this happened.� Letton also said service today is provided by 50 to 60 union employees that crossed the picket line, along with approximately five administrative supervisors and managers licensed as bus drivers. The strike, set to expire at 3am Friday morning, was called in response to grievances 1091 has with contractor StarTran�s proposed two-tier pay scale that would pay new hires approximately 16% less than current employees make, as well as allegations of Cap Metro illegally interfering in negotiations.
This article appears in September 23 • 2005.