TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Hundreds of people ride Tucson buses and street cars every day. But they could have a tough time Wednesday. Transit drivers may strike at midnight July 1st if their demands are not met.
The Ronstadt Transit center helps people move from downtown all across the city. It’s one of three major SunTran Bus Centers.
But the Teamsters Union says 99 percent of the drivers rolling in and out of Ronstadt have already voted to strike if there’s no new contract agreement with SunTran management.
Lydia Orduno says a strike will be bad for the city and bad for her.
“Because I'm disabled, and sometimes I can't get a ride anywhere. You know what I mean? Like, that would suck for us, especially as handicapped people, because we're stuck, you know what I mean, like, so it's like we don't know what to do, you know what I mean. So I hope that they don't go on strike because it’s going to suck for the whole city.”
Strikes often hinge on money—financial security. This dispute is more about physical security. Ever since the city of Tucson stopped collecting fares and made transit free, drivers complained buses have become rolling shelters for drugs and violence.
Tami Ruiz says she knows what the drivers are talking about.
“They really need to do a lot of safety on the bus because it is scary for a female like me or anybody else. At nighttime it's really scary on the bus, especially the North Side Grant area, that's a really bad area right there to get on the bus.”
The Tucson City Council affirmed its commitment to fare-free transit when it passed its new budget just a few days ago, but it also committed more than two million dollars to beef up transit security.
If negotiations fail and the strike goes on that may not mean buses stop entirely. In the last strike more than ten years ago supervisors took over the driving but they had fewer buses on the streets.
