Transit Riders Unions

Public transportation benefits everyone, and many people rely on buses and trains daily to get to work or school. But despite high-quality public transportation being so important for people and the planet, government doesn’t always adequately invest in it. “The analogy with labor unions is interesting because it’s obviously different in the sense that we don’t all work for the same employer, we can’t strike and bargain with our employer for benefits,” Katie Wilson said in 2012, six months after helping form the Seattle Transit Riders Union. ​“But it’s more of a political thing. This is the new working poor, organizing and trying to win political gains.”