We ask TWU Local 234: Please Stop Mobilizing Police During Protests
To our friends at Transport Workers Union Local 234:
As hundreds of thousands gather for protests against police brutality across all 50 states and numerous international cities, the time for leadership among organized workers in support of these protests is more important than ever. At the same time, many city leaders are shutting down transit services when they are needed most: to carry our people to the streets in the fight for justice.
In Philadelphia, we are seeing the same struggle for justice. Unfortunately, the recent curfews that cancelled SEPTA service have left people stranded, leaving people vulnerable to arrest for breaking curfew. Simultaneously, Philadelphia Police are asking SEPTA to transport officers to the scene of protests, where we’ve seen them using excessive and dangerous force, like trapping protestors and tear gassing them repeatedly. While we are encouraged to see that SEPTA has refused to use its fleet to transport or hold arrested protestors, we believe that TWU Local 234 needs to go further. This is why we are calling on members of TWU Local 234 to take a stand for Black lives by refusing to take police to protests.
TWU Local 234 is one of the most powerful unions in Philadelphia, having brought the city to a halt multiple times in order to meet the demands of their membership. TWU Local 234 has a proud history as part of the multiracial struggle against racism stemming back to 1944, when operators first chose it over other unions to represent them on a platform of ending discrimination against Black workers.
Racism is a core issue in the fight against police brutality, and so is the incredible amount of power that police wield without accountability or consequence. We see this racist power dynamic at work during the protests, as police are deployed to protect private property in Center City, but use tear gas along residential streets in Black neighborhoods. Likewise, the latest proposed city budget cuts funding for services like SEPTA, a true public necessity with a predominately Black workforce, and gives a major increase to the police, a predominately white workforce.
Now is the opportunity to stand on the right side of history. We believe that TWU Local 234 can show leadership in the fight for Black lives by joining other transit unions in Minneapolis, NYC, and Pittsburgh in refusing to transport police. We encourage all TWU Local 234 members to demand that union leadership do the right thing and make a statement as other transit unions have done. We also call on individual union members to hold SEPTA GM Leslie Richards and SEPTA board chairman Pat Deon accountable in their statement in solidarity with protestors by directly not ordering operators to transport police.
In solidarity,
