Workers Should Run The World

Above photo: CTA Bus Drivers in masks taking a break near Foster and Broadway in Chicago on April 1, 2020. Jes Farnum/Shutterstock.

A Bus Operator’s Perspective.

A conversation with Erek Slater, a bus operator for the Chicago Transit Authority.

We chat with Erek Slater, a bus oper­a­tor for the Chica­go Tran­sit Author­i­ty, where he’s been work­ing for the past 15 years. Erek is a fam­i­ly man, a father, and a three-term elect­ed shop stew­ard and exec­u­tive board mem­ber of the Amal­ga­mat­ed Tran­sit Union, Local 241. We talk about his work­ing life and all that goes into being a bus oper­a­tor, all the things that pas­sen­gers nev­er see — even though we depend on work­ers like Erek every day to live our lives. We also talk about Erek’s expe­ri­ence as a shop stew­ard and about his unshake­able com­mit­ment to hon­or, jus­tice, and empow­er­ing the work­ing class. In fact, it was because he stood up for these things that he was unjust­ly dis­missed from his job in May.

Maximillian Alvarez  is a writer and edi­tor based in Bal­ti­more and the host of Work­ing Peo­ple, a pod­cast by, for, and about the work­ing class today.” His work has been fea­tured in venues like In These Times, The Nation, The Baf­fler, Cur­rent Affairs, and The New Republic.