FARE STRIKE!
The object of a fare strike is to convince the MBTA that they are going to lose more money because of the fare strike than they are going to gain by raising the fare or cutting service. This is entirely possible if enough people participate.
The only way the MBTA will respond to our needs is if we can put real pressure on them—if we can disrupt business as usual. We have the power to do this. One third of MBTA's budget comes from fares. They depend on us as riders to pay fares, and as workers to collect fares. When riders refuse to pay, and workers refuse to; collect, that will really hit them where it hurts.
We can get where we need to go, have a free ride, and 'put pressure on them at the same time. If this happened on a large scale, they would move quickly to reverse the fare hikes.
Get on the bus anyway you can. Go in the front door or the back door, whatever feels right to you. Don't cause a scene. Just don't pay. Or, start a conversation with the driver and your fellow riders, and together decide to participate in the strike.
Whatever you do, be polite to the driver. They are not the enemy. They have a very difficult and stressful job. Fare hikes, service cuts, and layoffs make their job more difficult. Many, if not most, of the drivers are sympathetic to our efforts.
TOGETHER, RIDERS AND DRIVERS UNITED, WE CAN WIN!
How do we build a fare strike? Get in touch!
BOSTON FARE STRIKE
What is Boston Fare Strike? We're a coalition of Boston-area organizations and individuals that came together this Spring to meet the July 1st fare hikes with a fare strike. We see this action as a first step in a long-term struggle to not only defend our public transit, but to improve and expand it to better serve the people of Boston and the surrounding environment.
Join the struggle!
Email: BostonFareStrike@rilhip.net
Website: bostonfarestrike.tumblr.com
Find us on Facebook
Read more about the MBTA hikes here: http://
mbta.com/about the mbta/?id=23567
No Fare Hikes!
No Service
No Layoffs!
They Say "Fare Hike" We Say FARE STRIKE! -JULY 1ST, 2012-
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FARE HIKE?
On July 1st, the MBTA will raise fares 23%. That means your bus trip will go from $1.25 to $1.50, your subway fare from $1.70 to $2.00, and Bus-Subway combo monthly passes from $59 to $70. This increase is not to fund better service, cleaner facilities, more seating, or even more jobs. It's to knock $33 million off of the MBTA's $185 million debt.
MBTA's debt is from years of mismanagement, bad decisions by the politicians, and a recession caused by big banks. But the MBTA is asking us who have the least to spare-working people, students, immigrants, unemployed, and other members of the working class—to reach deeper into our pockets.
This is just the beginning. While "The T's yearly operating budget is millions of dollars in the red," according to NECN's Eileen Curran, "the long-term debt is in the billions." That means that
July's hikes are only a glimpse of what we can expect down the road. MBTA employees, who escaped this round of cuts mostly unscathed, will likely face major layoffs and benefits cuts next year in addition to future fare hikes. Public transportation should be defended and *expanded* to create jobs, help working people, and benefit the environment. How can the people of Boston stop these cuts and defend our transit system and our jobs in the long term? We must build power and strength together. Riders and workers must band together to launch a fare strike on July 1st!
Dublin in 2003 the bus drivers union called a fare tree as part of an ongoing fight against privatization on the city's bus system.
In 1998, a fare strike in LA organized by the LA Bus Riders Unions not only stopped a fare strike, but pressured LA into buying more buses to reduce crowding.
In some French cities, organized rare evasion became so common, it was more expensive to pay the police to watch all the metros and buses than to just make transport free which is what then happened in a number of cities*
In Italy, fare strike widespread and sucessfully stopped fare increases all over the country.
1993: in San Francisco a fare evasion campaign pressured the city to bring
back transfers which they did.
This Spring, Occupy Wall Street and TWU in New York chained exit doors open during rush hour, giving thousands of commuters a free ride.
In Greece, transportation hikes were stopped through a massive non-payment of fares while uniting with demands of transit workers.
There are successful, ongoing fare evasion campaigns in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Helsinki
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