The CTA has slated January 2nd 2005 as Doomsday. This is the day services
are to be cut by 20%, 1250 jobs are to be terminated and paratransit fares
will be increased by 100%. While CTA officials claim the only solution
would be extra money from the state, we have been holding CTA president
Frank Kruesi and his board responsible. It is the CTA who has known this
crisis was coming and has made the decision to dump it on the backs of
workers and riders. They are the ones who ignored it as they built their
new $119 million Lake Street office. It is also Kruesi and his buddy mayor
Daley who are still talking about spending almost 2 billion dollars on a
new Circle line, just so rich folks can get from their neighborhoods to
the airport a little bit quicker. If there is money for such luxury, there
is no excuse for cutting our service, terminating our jobs and raising our
fares!

In response, Midwest Unrest has called for a fare strike starting December
15th. If no final decision to scrap these cuts, job terminations and fare
increases has been announced by then, we are calling on all CTA riders to
ride their routes like they do everyday but without paying. The CTA
depends on us paying and collecting fares. This is where our power to
pressure them lies. This tactic has been successful before, in San
Francisco, Italy, France and elsewhere. In Chicago, there is widespread
support for a fare strike among bus operators, many of whom have already
received pink slips. They've said time and again, "It's not our job to
collect the fares."

So starting December 15th, politely state that you are on fare strike when
you board your buses and take your seat without paying. Until then start
spreading the word. Talk to your bus operators and other riders. Download
flyers from our website and pass them out. Together we can make this a
success!

Here's how to get involved:
*****Don't pay or collect for transit starting December 15th. And keep
riding and driving for free until all service cuts, job terminations and
fare increases are reversed.
*****Tell everyone you know about the fare strike. Forward this email.
*****Poster your neighborhood, and pass out flyers while you're on the bus
or the "L". You can print them out from our website. If you don't have
access to a printer of photocopier, get in touch with us and we'll get you
some flyers and posters.
*****If you have access to a photocopier (or happen to have money you
could donate to make photocopies) that would be great. We are always
looking for more photocopies.
*****Take initiative. If you have an idea about how to make the fare
strike more successful, don't wait to tell us about it. Go out and do it
yourself. But do let us know about it, we are always open to new ideas.

==================================
* About Midwest Unrest
www.midwestunrest.net/farestrike/
midwest_unrest-A-riseup.net

Midwest Unrest is autonomous, decentralized and nonhierarchical. We object to capitalism. We reject any system that sees human beings as greenbacks, the environment as a resource, and culture as a product that can be
bought and sold. We oppose all forms of oppression and discrimination. We respect people's differences and the autonomy of groups, individuals and peoples.

Midwest Unrest is a Chicago-based collective which formed in the summer of 2003 for the purpose of attending the FTAA in Miami. Since then, we have continued to organize for revolutionary social change and the
promotion of anarchist ideals.