[van-announce] Invitation: Bus riders and allies celebrate Night Owls Victory

[Yang Chang]

*Bus Riders and Allies to Celebrate Night Owls Victory*


The Bus Riders Union invites all bus riders and allies to a celebration 
of the successful campaign to win back Night Owl buses.  The 'Victory 
Party' is Saturday, April 24 at 7PM - 706 Clark Drive (three block south 
of Hastings on the south-east corner of Georgia and Clark Drive).  A 
30-minute program will be followed by music, food and dancing!

/*Grassroots organizing of low-income and marginalized people won back 
the Night Owls!*/  For over two years Bus Riders Union organizers stuck 
to our guns, demanding that the needs of bus riders be made the top 
transit priority in our region.  BRU organizers rode the buses every 
week, talking to janitors, security guards, single moms, seniors, the 
disabled, welfare recipients, and every bus rider that would take our 
leaflet and talk about their issues.  We did not hesitate to go to the 
TransLink board, the media, bus riders, and the community and say that 
the curfew was a racist and sexist attack on the rights of working-class 
communities, particularly communities of colour.  In March 2004, the 
hard work and broad organizing paid off!  Bus riders forced TransLink to 
reinstate the Night Owls and lift the curfew on transit-dependent people.

In this time of intensifying attacks on working class communities, 
particularly Aboriginal, immigrant and refugee communities, this small 
victory serves as an example of how oppressed and exploited people can 
come together to fight back attacks on our basic rights.

The Bus Riders Union looks forward to sharing this victory with all 
those fighting for social and economic justice locally and 
internationally.  We look forward to celebrating more victories in the 
struggle for economic human rights for all!

*Bus Riders Union*
#407 - 119 W. Pender St.
P: 604 215 2775
E: bru at resist.ca
W: http://bru.resist.ca

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