Jackson Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba will mediate a conversation between JTRAN union reps and MV Transportation, the third-party company that manages the City of Jackson’s public-transit employees, he said at a press conference in Jackson on Tuesday.
It is the first joint meeting the mayor will hold with both parties a month after JTRAN drivers coordinated a mass call-out that left riders stranded for hours.
The call-outs also led the City of Jackson to modify or cancel services on April 27 and April 29.
“People want to work at JTRAN but not under the conditions that MV (Transportation) has provided,” ATU Local 1208 Union President Charles Tornes told WAPT on May 9.
Employees cited 29 grievances including long work hours due to under-staffing, WAPT reported.
“What I have committed to is to sit down with both sides collectively,” the mayor said Tuesday. “I’ve sat down with each side individually, and now we’re looking to bring them together so that we can act as a mediator, quite possibly, between any issues that they have.”
The mayor said he has gotten no indication that riders will have to deal with another mass call-out or strike. “Because the City has an interest in a productive and well-run mass transit system, hopefully we can come to some resolution to those challenges,” the mayor continued.
‘It’s a Major Problem Because I’m Disabled’
JTRAN riders gave impassioned speeches during a Jackson City Council meeting at City Hall on May 7, saying that the mass driver call-out on April 27 left riders stranded for hours at bus stops across the city.
“The vast majority of the bus operators, support staff and dispatchers called in sick, leaving all the vulnerable riders who depend on JTRAN stranded,” disability-rights activist Scott Crawford said at the meeting. “Many people, including myself, waited hours on the side of the road wondering what was going on.”
Disability-rights activist Scott Crawford said at the Jackson City Council meeting at City Hall on May 7, 2024, that several JTRAN riders called out sick on April 27, 2024, in a coordinated effort that led to hours-long
