Photos Drivers rally at Capitol Ready to keep striking More from MPR In the wake of bus strike, commuters jump into the car pool (03/12/2004) Met Council to use strike savings to help riders (03/12/2004) Bus strike is more than inconvenience for some (03/11/2004) Your Voice Join the conversation with other MPR listeners in the News Forum.

	E-mail this page			Print this page

No end in sight to bus drivers' strike
by Toni Randolph, Minnesota Public Radio
March 18, 2004

On Thursday, striking bus drivers rallied at the state Capitol. (MPR Photo/Michael Khoo)

The metro Transit bus strike is moving into its third week, and there's no end in sight. So the inconvenience for commuters continues. Some have found other ways to work, school and doctors appointments, but for others, their livelihood had been threatened. For drivers, the stoppage means an end to pay checks. Still, many bus drivers say they're committed to the job action and will stay on the picket lines as long as it takes.

St. Paul, Minn. — Mike Quale has been driving buses in the Twin Cities for 30 years. But for the past two weeks, he's been walking the picket lines and staying in touch with union leaders.

"At my age -- I'm 52 -- I'll never recover the money that I lose," he says.

	Ready to keep striking

The only part of his routine not changed by the strike is picking up his daughter every afternoon from school. Quale, who lives in Hastings, and the 2,000 members of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1005, walked off the job March 4 after contract talks broke down with the Metropolitan Council over pay and benefits.

Quale says he doesn't want to be on strike, but he has no choice. And he says despite the significant loss in income, his resolve remains intact.

"There were people that were ahead of me that have taken hard licks for me to be where I'm at and I'm willing to take my hard licks for the people that are coming behind us," he says.

The Met Council has said it can no longer afford to pay the current level of benefits for drivers. This week, striking workers began picking up their first checks from the strike fund -- $50. Next week, that amount goes up to $150 a week until the strike ends. Quale says even though his bills are paid up and he was prepared for the strike, he may have to start looking for other income.

"At a certain point, I'm thinking next week at this point, I'll have to go find another job if only to keep a little bit more money coming in because we've got constant bills. I've got a house payment, I've got medical payments that are due as of April 1. Six, seven, eight dollars an hour is better than getting nothing. Am I worried about it? No. When I have to do it, I'll do it. Next week looks like when I have to do it and, believe me, I will do it," he adds. Quale's girlfriend, Theresa Baird-Lundblad, says she may have to begin looking for work too. After six years with Metro Transit, she's also on strike. Instead of working at the Haywood maintenance garage, she now spends her days picketing, delivering food to the picket lines and cleaning her house in St. Paul.

"I miss my job. Two weeks. The boredom is setting in; I grant you that. But it's a question of maintaining the solidarity," according to Baird-Lundblad.

At the East Metro Facility in St. Paul, the drivers of passing cars honk their horns in a show of support for the workers on the picket line. One of them is Yvette, a bus driver and single mother who did not want her last name used. Yvette, like some striking workers, doesn't receive medical benefits through Metro Transit. But she says she walks the picket line because some of her fellow workers do.

"I'm not happy about it, but I'm willing to stand for what's right. Somebody has to. And it will make it better for the people who come in after me," she says.

Yvette wants to go back to work but not before the Met Council meets the union's demands.

"I would like for us to go back, but I believe that if we cave in like that then they'll just take advantage of us. I believe we should just fight this fight until the end. Because if we give in, they'll just see we're weak and they'll want to do whatever they want to do with us."

So she'll continue to walk the picket line and will seek other work if the strike goes on much longer. At this point no talks are scheduled between the Met Council and the union.

News Headlines

Related Subjects