[van-announce] Join the fight to win Justice for Bus Riders!

[Yang Chang]

*(PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY, APOLOGIES FOR CROSS POSTING)*


*BUS RIDERS UNION*
*Join the fight to win Justice for Bus Riders!*

Upcoming Events:

*ORGANIZING ON THE BUSES, TAKING TO THE STREETS!*

*Wednesday January 28, 9 PM*
Late night street leafleting and organizing
@ Granville Street Skytrain entrance

*Wednesday February 18, 6:00 PM*
End the Curfew Now Demonstration
@ Commercial and Broadway

*Wednesday March 10, 6:30 PM*
BRU Community Meeting
@ Little Mountain Neighbourhood House (3981 Main St. at 24th)

*Night Owl Buses: End the Curfew Now!*
A campaign for justice for transit-dependent night workers and all bus
riders.

*Bus riders still under curfew… and fighting back!*

After over two years of curfew bus riders are still waiting for late 
night buses. Despite TransLink claims that bus riders have 'adjusted' to 
the curfew, for transit dependent people the curfew continues to mean 
economic hardship, compromised health and safety and social isolation.

The Bus Riders Union report "Night Owl Buses: Towards social justice in 
the Vancouver region" (available at http://bru.resist/nightowls2) 
contains first hand accounts of the many hardships still endured by bus 
riders:

-Low wage workers unable to take shifts or access work
-Transit dependent women forced to walk long distances in unsafe conditions
-Late night workers who wait hours in the lunchroom or at the bus stop 
waiting for the buses to start running

Faced with these ongoing hardships over 1200 bus riders signed the BRU 
More Buses! Lower Fares! petition, joining the call for restored night 
owl service. Hundreds more shared their stories of hardship with BRU 
organizers and over fifty people took the time to give testimonials of 
their own experiences of the curfew.

*Campaign Successes*

At a meeting in September 2003, the collective voice of bus riders and 
the work of the Bus Riders Union finally forced TransLink to deal with 
the issue of the curfew. After countless delegations, 1200 signatures, 
two direct actions and a 50 page report, finally the TransLink directors 
actually had to talk about the impact of their policies on the lives of 
low-income and marginalized people. In a close decision the board voted 
to table a motion to restore night owls, brought by Port Moody Mayor 
Trasolini.

This meeting marked a qualified victory for transit-dependent people and 
the Bus Riders Union. For the first time in three years of organizing 
the TransLink board was forced to step outside their narrow, 
self-serving discussions of "planning", "markets" and "development" and 
actually talk about the real lives and needs of bus riders. In addition, 
the motion brought by Trasolini was taken almost word for word from the 
BRU Night Owls report reflecting the ability of bus riders to influence 
the process and potentially even set the agenda. But we need to get more 
organized, more vocal, and more militant if we are going to get the 
justice we need and deserve!

*A Critical Phase.*

The time is now for bus riders to step up and demand our rights. The 
TransLink Board will revisit the night owls motion at their March 
meeting. When they do, bus riders and our allies need to be there to 
demand that they do the right thing and lift the curfew. As low-wage 
workers, poor people, immigrants, refugees, and low-income students and 
parents, only our collective voices and collective action can win us 
justice.


*BUS RIDERS UNION*

#407 - 119 W. Pender St. Vancouver BC V6B 1S5

t: 604 215 2775 e: bru at resist.ca w: bru.resist.ca