Minneapolis bus drivers are refusing to help police transport protesters to jail

A Minneapolis city bus promoting voting in 2018.

(Image credit: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

published 29 May 2020

As tensions between police and protesters in Minneapolis reached a boiling point following the death of George Floyd, the city's bus drivers have made it abundantly clear which side they're on. The driver's union, ATU Local 1005, issued a statement of solidarity on Thursday, with some of its drivers going as far as to refuse to use their buses to help law enforcement transport protesters to jail.

"As a transit worker and union member, I refuse to transport my class and radical youth," one Minneapolis bus driver, Adam Burch, told the labor publication Payday. "An injury to one is an injury to all. The police murdered George Floyd and the protest against is completely justified and should continue until their demands are met."

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Payday notes that "it would be illegal for [the union] to call for a wildcat strike," though their statement makes the drivers' opinion heard. Meanwhile, transit workers have also launched a group called "Union Members for #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd," assembling those who "are willing to do what we can to ensure our labor is not used to help the Minneapolis Police Department shut down calls for justice."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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