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Transport Workers, riders protest LI Bus cuts in Mineola

 
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B53RICH




Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 254

PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 3:01 pm    Post subject: Transport Workers, riders protest LI Bus cuts in Mineola Reply with quote

Newsday article:

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/transport-workers-riders-protest-li-bus-cuts-in-mineola-1.2242872


Transport Workers, riders protest LI Bus cuts in Mineola

Originally published: August 28, 2010 2:14 PM
By YAMICHE ALCINDOR



Photo credit: Howard Schnapp | Members of the local 252 Transport Workers Union hold a rally to protest cuts to LI Bus at the Mineola LIRR station. (Aug. 28, 2010)


Dozens of Transport Workers Union members and MTA riders gathered at the Mineola LIRR station Saturday morning to protest transportation and government officials' plans to cut funding for Long Island Bus and to privatize bus service in Nassau County.

Patricia Bowden, president of Transport Workers Union Local 252, who organized the rally, was among several speakers.

"I'm hoping to get Nassau County and MTA to sit down and come to some agreement that will save my members' jobs," she said. "My fear is that we're going to get privatized."

Bowden stood in front a crowd waving signs and clapping.

"Most people who ride our buses are the less fortunate," she said. "We should be improving transportation not cutting it. We need MTA to sit down and negotiate."

The MTA has proposed cutting $100 million in funding for Long Island bus over the next four years. Nassau County is proposing privatizing bus transportation in the county.

Dorothy Robertson, 78, of Hempstead, said she came to the rally to save her Able-Ride, a door-to-door paratransit service for people with disabilities.

"We need it," said Robertson, who is retired and uses the services for doctor appointments and to grocery shop. "When you're on a fixed income it's hard. It's the only way I get around."

Bernard James, 55, of Hempstead, has been working for the MTA for 28 years and currently is a bus operator. He said he and others fear their jobs may be lost if bus service in Nassau is privatized.

"I'm very nervous," James said. "I've been working 28 years and they're talking about layoffs? That's why I came here. I am concerned."

Cheryl Wimms, 44, of Rockville Centre, an MTA maintenance worker, echoed James' sentiments. She said she has three children and five grandchildren who she helps support.

"To save my job, that's what brought me here," Wimms said. "We come to work everyday, and we don't if the doors will be shut."
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