Atlanta Journal Constitution ad says MARTA CEO Parker lives likes a king on the backs of working people of Atlanta
Atlanta, GA, - While $10,000 donors attend political fundraisers the families of working Atlantans struggle to feed their children further snuffing out the middle class say MARTA workers at a demonstration outside of a fundraiser for Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Jason Carter on Thursday evening.
“These wealthy elites are dominating our political parties while enriching themselves by driving the hard working honest people of Atlanta further into poverty,” said Amalgamated Transit Union Local 732 President Curtis Howard. “Politicians like Jason Carter and public officials like MARTA CEO Keith Parker need to be held accountable for the growing income inequality that has become so pervasive and destroyed the opportunity of the American dream for so many families.”
A full-page ad in the Atlanta Journal Constitution targets MARTA CEO Keith Parker, who is paid more than public transit chiefs in Chicago, San Francisco, Boston and Seattle.
Meanwhile MARTA employees are amongst the lowest paid in the country and many rely on food stamps, affordable housing assistance and other government services to make ends meet. The ad calls on Mayor Kasim Reed and MARTA to take a stand for economic justice for working Atlantans.
The MARTA employees will call on Carter to stand up for working Georgians and against MARTA’s scheme to outsource essential transit services as the candidate hosts a $10,000 ticket fundraiser. They also demonstrated outside his fundraiser on Monday.
“Like most Atlantans, MARTA workers can’t afford to attend fancy fundraisers for Jason Carter,” said Howard. “Meanwhile Keith Parker lives like a king in a big house while his workers are scrapping to make ends meet and their children go hungry.
“If Jason Carter won’t speak up for MARTA workers and working Georgians now, then we won’t speak up for him on election day. He needs to get his priorities straight. All we’re asking is for him to state publicly where he stands.”
Handing out fake $10,000 bills with Jason Carter’s photo, transit workers will urge Carter to stand against income inequality and oppose a scheme concocted by Parker and Board Chair Robbie Ashe to dismantle and sell off MARTA’s mobility service to private companies.
Parker, who is among the highest paid transit chiefs for large cities, and Ashe based their decision on a discredited KPMG report. Furthermore, Parker in a previous life commissioned a report sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration that said outsourcing paratransit doesn’t work, partly because low wages paid by privateers lead to high turnover.
Their scheme threatens the safety and reliability of paratransit service that Atlanta’s seniors, children with special needs and those with disabilities rely on to live independent lives. More than 1,000 middle class jobs held mostly by African Americans are also at stake.
“Jason needs to take a stand for MARTA workers,” Howard continued. “MARTA once lifted a generation of workers, especially African-Americans, into the middle class. Now, the guys in charge – who Jason knows well – are pushing the middle class toward extinction.”
MARTA workers have intensified their campaign in recent days, demonstrating outside a Columbus Day Carter fundraiser, holding a rally outside MARTA’s headquarters leafleting riders and running a radio ad campaign on radio stations across Atlanta. More actions are expected in the days ahead.