CATS workers strike through Mardi Gras as ATU International President visits to show solidarity

BATON ROUGE, La. (LOUISIANA FIRST NEWS)— CATS workers remain on strike, demanding a fair contract and improved working conditions. On Tuesday, they lined up with signs, ponchos and tents outside the CATS bus station on Florida St.

“Safety is the number one issue for me and my drivers. We want to make sure we go home in the afternoon. We don’t want to be insulted or assaulted, and we want our company to stand behind us when those things happen,” said Inez Bowie, executive board member of Operations at ATU Local 1546.

Despite the festive atmosphere of Mardi Gras, Bowie joined other CATS workers on the strike and said that as a CATS employee, it’s important for her to let her voice be heard.

“We don’t want to be out here. Today’s Mardi Gras, we’re festive, we’d prefer to be at the parades, enjoying time with our families, but at the end of the day, this is my family,” she said.

ATU International President John Costa also joined the strike. He stopped in Baton Rouge from Washington D.C, emphasizing the importance of supporting CATS workers and their fight for a fair contract.

“Heartening to me to see my members walking off the job and I’m very proud of them because the company took a position that we were dealing fairly and we thought we were going to go to arbitration and settle this the right way and continue to work. But they chose to change the contract,” he said. “They should’ve left everything in place and we wouldn’t be here.”

CATS Issued a statement ahead of the strike, saying they had plans to minimize disruptions and provide bus service for its passengers. Costa expressed hope that CATS management and the union could reach an agreement soon.

“They chose to change discipline, the grievance procedure, which is totally disrespectful,” he said. “We feel this is illegal, we’re asking them to take put the contract back as it was and let’s go to arbitration like the contract shows and see and battle it out there.’

Until then, Costa urged continued support for the workers and encouraged the public to speak out.

“To the riders were sorry to say that there’s this is going on and we ask them to support us and make a phone call to this general manager and tell him to do the right thing. And also to the board and also any politicians that are supporting this, we appreciate that and would urge them to do the same,” he said.