FIGHT THE CTA SERVICE CUTS AND RATE INCREASES!

Since CTA President Frank Kruesi's appointment by his buddy Mayor Daley in 1997,
Kruesi has proved himself to be an enemy of the poor and working people of Chicago,
including both the CTA riders and employees. At the very beginning of his reign,
Kruesi and his gang of bureaucrats, the CTA board, made a drastic 10% cut to
services, disproportionately affecting low-income neighborhoods and the people who
rely on public transit the most. These cuts were, and still are, an outrage. People
lost jobs when they lost their weekend and night service. Getting to doctor's
appointments and even leisure activities has become a constant struggle. The fight
to restore this service has continued for 7 years now, refusing to back down.

Then at the beginning of this year, the CTA attacked all riders with a 17% fare
increase. For all of us who depend on the CTA to get to work each day, this fare
increase was literally a wage cut. The budget for the same year, while showing an
increase in labor spending in the office of the President of 12%, showed a decrease
on all other labor spending of 23%, this time ripping off it's own employees.

Now the CTA is making it's biggest threats ever. Service cuts of 20% have been
proposed, including the elimination of 30 bus routes, 21 weekend bus routes and
shortening 9 other routes, cutting night service on the Red and Blue lines, cutting
daytime service on the Orange and Brown lines, and the elimination of 1000 union
jobs. This is all while doubling the fee for the paratransit and taxi access program
for the disabled, raising parking fees by 25 cents and U-Pass rates by 10 cents a
day.

Kruesi claims this is all necessary if additional funding is not granted from the
state. Don't be fooled though, extra money from the state does not mean that our
interests will be served. When the CTA received $20 million from Illinois First!,
none of that money ever went to restore the 1997 service cuts. Kruesi's spending
habits have instead consistently reflected his ego's need for a legacy.

The CTA bureaucrats' recently built themselves a palace on Lake
Street, complete with granite floors and a $119 million price tag. Grand plans are
also still on the table to spend over a billion dollars on a new "circle line",
increasing transport ease downtown while again cheating poorer neighborhoods of
their transport needs.

Whether or not the CTA receives the additional funding from the State, Kruesi needs
his bubble burst and to feel the pressure of the millions of Chicagoans he's
angered. Fortunately, his attacks on both CTA riders and workers leave him
vulnerable. It is riders and workers together who have the power to hit the
bureaucrats where they'll feel it the most: the collection boxes and station booths.


In 1978 in Nantes (France), instead of going on strike, bus drivers kept the busses
rolling but "forgot" to collect any fares. This tactic has been repeated all over,
from Italy to Germany to Ireland to Canada. Riders have also refused to pay fares to
resist fare increases. Several cities in France now in fact have free public
transportation because people banded together and simply refuse to pay. This is
where our power lies.

Sure the CTA budget is in a crisis, but why should poor and working people have to
pay for their crisis? If the CTA is going to disrupt our lives we will disrupt
theirs. There will be no business as usual as long as Kruesi tries to dig himself
out of his mess by cutting services, labor spending or increasing anyone's fares.

TAKE ACTION!

Come give the CTA a piece of your mind at their public hearings:

Thursday October 14
6:30pm
2005 Budget and Service Cuts
Roberto Clemente High School
1147 North Western
Chicago

Tuesday October 19
6:30pm
Service Cuts
Chicago State University
Jacoby Dickens Athletic Center
9501 South King Drive
Chicago

Monday October 25
6:30pm
Service Cuts
Evanston Township High School
Bacon Cafeteria
1600 Dodge Avenue
Evanston

Wednesday October 27
4pm
2005 Budget
Palmer House
17 East Monroe
Chicago

We look forward to your comments and ideas. If your group would like to get involved
in the fight to save service and prevent a fair hike, please send us an e-mail so we
can attend one of your meetings.

We need our fliers translated into other languages. If you can help out, please
contact us.

For more information and to download a flier visit our web site.

midwest_unrest (at) riseup.net
773-250-7060
downloadable flyers at
www.midwestunrest.net/farestrike