Demonstrators gathered in the heat, fanning themselves with their picket signs.
“What do we want? Fair pay!” shouted the line of about 30 people along University Avenue. “When do we want it? Now!”
The members and supporters of Amalgamated Transit Union’s local chapter rallied in front of City Hall before a city commission meeting on Thursday, continuing to lobby for pay progression for Gainesville Regional Transit System workers.
“We’re trying to make it so everybody don’t have to work so hard to make so little,” said RTS employee Terrance Dix.
Most RTS transit operators make $12.63 per hour, said president of local ATU chapter 1579 Mary Frances Folz Donahue.
“They advertise you can make up to $16.92, but there’s actually no way to progress,” she said.
Compared to peer agencies in areas like Palm Beach and Jacksonville, Gainesville RTS operator wages are the lowest, according to data from the National Transit Database.
Folz Donahue said this is why RTS has a retention problem.
“Our turnover rates are sending our drivers to Jacksonville,” said 21-year-old UF political science and history junior Steven Houston, who interns for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.
ATU will attend a public hearing at 10 a.m. on Wednesday to negotiate a final proposal.
RTS spokesman Chip Skinner could not be reached for comment.
Houston said he is hopeful about the outcome because Gainesville residents rely heavily on public transit.
“If the city supports students, they’ll support ATU,” he said.
[A version of this story ran on page 9 on 6/10/2014 under the headline "RTS workers continue the push for clear pay progression"]
Power to the People - Antonio Cruz, 59, pictured right, joined the Amalgamated Transit Union in rallying support for the fair pay of RTS employees outside city hall on Thursday . Soon thereafter, the AT Union voiced their concerns at the city commission meeting.
