Jackson transit workers end 38-day strike after pact with MV Transportation
Jackson transit workers ended a 38-day strike Thursday after the Amalgamated Transit Union’s Local 1208 and MV Transportation reached a tentative contract, union and city officials said. The agreement must still be ratified by union members, and details were not immediately available, union officials said.
Mayor John Horhn called the deal “good news” and thanked both sides for ending the walkout in a statement. Horhn said the agreement allows the city to “focus on providing the dependable transit service our residents expect and deserve,” according to the statement.
Union negotiators said they had been seeking better pay and benefits, and that talks were conducted with the help of a federal mediator. The agreement builds on the minimum pay under the previous contract, which started at $17.18 an hour and $23 for senior employees under the prior deal; it was not clear what the new pay scale will be or when workers will return to their jobs.
Charles Tornes Jr., president of Local 1208, said in a statement that the strike showed members were “willing to lay it all on the line for justice” and thanked riders and allies for their support. MV Transportation thanked the mayor and officials for helping broker the agreement and said its focus now is “on moving forward together” and providing safe, reliable service, company spokesperson Nick Dye said in a statement Thursday evening.
JTRAN provides bus and paratransit service that advocates and riders say is a lifeline for low-income and disabled residents. The union had sought competitive pay raises while MV proposed changes including new safety policies and the ability to hire drivers without commercial licenses to operate smaller vehicles for on-demand services, union negotiators and city officials said. The recent strike was the second work stoppage since MV won the contract; company representatives said outside workers were brought in and the system mostly ran as normal during the stoppage.
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