Uninformed Union Bus Drivers Unwittingly Assist Police
April 15, 2000 Washington, DC - Members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 were called upon to provide service to DC Police for "emergency purposes" this afternoon. The workers, who drive for Metro transit, arrived between 7:30 and 8:00 at the intersection of 20th St. and K St. NW, where a mixed group of 300-400 protesters and media makers were being arrested.
Earlier in the afternoon, school buses had been filled with arrested demonstrators, but not enough had been deployed to hold the entire group. At the time the Metro buses were dispatched, the drivers, all of whom were African-American, were not given any specific information regarding the nature of the assignment. Many of the protestors supported the end of racial profiling by police, as well as granting Philadelphia death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal a new trial.
The detainees were part of a larger march organized to protest the prison-industrial complex in the U.S. and the international rules which protect it. They had been separated from the rest of the group and arrested en mass, according to eyewitnesses. Those on the scene also reported that members of the press were arrested, including a crew from CNN and two-time Pulitzer prize winning photographer Carol Beazy.
"It sounds like it was a good cause," said a driver who did not wish to give his name. "We spend more money on defense and prisons than on education, but spending more money on education would probably stop a lot of crime. If I had known what [the protest] was about, I probably wouldn't have taken the assignment." Driver John Williams also said that he did not "think [he] would have participated," if he had been told exactly what the assignment involved.
In Seattle, drivers with ATU Local 587 provided similar services for the police during the WTO demonstrations in November. However, all tra nsit operators in Seattle were given the option of refusing such assignments. According to the four drivers on the scene, they were neither informed nor given the option to refuse such service. "It's not like I have a choice," one driver said, citing the need to support his family
When asked why more information was not provided to the drivers, Carol Johnson, a spokeswoman for Metro stated, "I don't have a clue." During a later interview, she divulged that Metro had "already agreed" to provide blanket support to the police all weekend and that the police had not given any specific information when the request for service was made. She said that any driver upset at an assignment can contact his or her supervisor to complain.
At the scene, Police spokesman F.D. Morello disavowed any knowledge about buses being used to transport prisoners. He further claimed that he thought that the buses would be used to move the officers at the scene. Another DC Police spokesman later refused to comment about metro management not being appraised of the nature of the assignments. Union representatives could not be reached for comment.