Call on Governor to relieve Parker of his authority over MARTA Police
Atlanta, GA – Hours before a shooting took place at the Inman Park station and four additional times last week, MARTA CEO Keith Parker dispatched MARTA police officers in a coordinated effort to intimidate transit workers and union representatives.
“This kind of behavior is a national disgrace and a black eye for Atlanta,” says Amalgamated Transit Union Local 732 President Curtis Howard. “Instead of staying focused on protecting MARTA riders and transit employees, Keith Parker uses transit cops as his own personal army.
This is unacceptable and we call on the Governor to relieve Parker of his authority over MARTA police for the safety of all riders and workers.”
Parker’s sudden policy change comes as workers have launched a campaign that promotes economic justice for working Atlantans and opposes MARTA’s plans to outsource paratransit services.
The Governor has authority over the MARTA police, which is a Georgia State Certified Agency with county-wide jurisdiction in Fulton and DeKalb Counties.
On Wednesday, October 15, workers were speaking to and sharing campaign literature with other workers at MARTA’s Laredo bus garage when they were told that they needed to leave the property or could face arrest for criminal trespassing. MARTA police claimed they needed permission from MARTA headquarters before entering the property.
“We have never had to request permission to speak to our members, and I’ve never been given any notice stating that the policy had changed,” Howard says. “We figured it was the local supervisor who just didn’t like what we were saying.”
On Thursday, October 16, workers returned to the property. This time, they were told that only MARTA employees were allowed on the property. Once again, the representatives complied and left.
On Friday, October 17, workers again returned, this time with local union president Howard. Shortly after their arrival, they were ordered by a MARTA police officer to leave or face arrest for criminal trespassing. The representatives exited the building but remained on the sidewalk out front to discuss the issue with the officer. Within minutes, more than 13 MARTA police officers arrived and surrounded Howard.
Howard placed a phone call to MARTA CEO Keith Parker, and the story changed again. Parker said the issue was the literature that was critical of him and the company.
“This isn’t just a shameful tactic straight out of a playbook that Dr. King condemned fifty years ago, it also happens to be illegal,” says ATU International President Larry Hanley. “Parker, who makes $345,000 per year, is a public official promoting a plan that would impoverish his workers and create substandard service for Atlanta’s most vulnerable transit riders.
“This is a violation of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Georgia,” Hanley continued.
Hanley pointed out that workers across the country make similar visits to transit properties and have done so in Atlanta for years, including in recent weeks, with no concern ever expressed by MARTA management.
This past Saturday MARTA workers were threatened once again at the Family Fun Day and Fall Festival, a MARTA-sponsored event for employees and their families held in the parking lot of the Brookhaven/Oglethorpe MARTA station.
Workers were handing out balloons that simply read, “Respect Working Families” when they were told by MARTA police that they had to leave the area and cross the street.
Howard and other workers again refused. “We received such a supportive response from the families, half of whom aren’t even union members, that the company had the police back down,” he says.
Just three hours later, however, a passenger was shot at the Inman Park MARTA station. “I think every Atlantan, every Georgian, every American should be outraged that a public official uses a publicly-funded police force to intimidate workers for handing out paper to its members and balloons to kids, but can’t keep our riders from being shot.”
Workers plan to return to properties this week. On Thursday at 2:00 p.m. near the Arts Center MARTA Station, workers will be joined by the locked-out Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Musicians, faith leaders, and others for a rally dubbed the “Rally for Atlanta: A City Worth Saving.”