Our Stay Housed Stay Healthy campaign for stronger renter protections is rocking it! With energetic pressure and support from renters, TRU members and so many allies in this powerful county-wide coalition, elected officials have approved a suite of renter protections this month:

June 7: Seattle City Council passed legislation closing the “lease loophole” in Seattle’s Just Cause Eviction Ordinance; creating a defense to eviction for COVID rental debt; and banning school year evictions of families and educators.

June 14: Kenmore City Council passed a local moratorium on evictions and rent increases through Sept. 30; a defense to eviction for COVID rental debt and for renters with rental assistance applications in progress; and a requirement that landlords certify that they have applied for rental assistance before initiating an eviction.

June 15: Kirkland City Council passed a local moratorium on evictions through Sept. 30.

June 18: Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan extended Seattle’s moratorium on evictions and rent increases through Sept. 30.

June 21: Burien City Council passed a local moratorium on evictions through Sept. 30.

And we’re not done yet! Stay tuned for news of King County Council’s permanent renter protections package, up for a vote on Tuesday, June 29.

Yesterday, TRU joined with Real Change, Nickelsville and Be:Seattle to file a petition challenging the ballot title for the “Compassion Seattle” campaign’s proposed amendment to the city charter.

For our neighbors experiencing homelessness, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a crisis on top of a crisis. Indoor public spaces and public restrooms closed their doors. Many free meal programs and other services shut down. Shelters struggled to keep people distanced and safe from COVID. Meanwhile, there’s still a severe shortage of deeply affordable housing. And many homeless or housing insecure people lost jobs. So more people are sleeping outside. Not because they want to, but because there aren’t better options.

TRU members and friends have stepped up to do what we can and offer solidarity— our steadfast volunteer outreach team visits camps every week bringing home-cooked food, water, essential supplies and items people ask for. (You can donate here!)

We know the real solutions are systemic: First and foremost, deeply affordable housing. And until there’s enough housing, shelter that meets people’s needs, including keeping families and couples together, accommodating pets, having secure storage for people’s belongings, and offering both privacy and community. And whatever other services and supports people need— which also means paying human service workers a living wage.

There’s no mystery to ending homelessness. It requires acknowledging the scale of the crisis and coming up with the resources to truly address it, as multiple McKinsey reports have shown. We took a big step last year with the passage of Jumpstart Seattle, a pathbreaking tax on large corporations that, starting next year, will fund new affordable housing. The big business lobby groups hate the tax and the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce is suing the city to try to overturn it. What jerks.

This year, those same lobby groups teamed up with former Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess to launch “Compassion Seattle.” They’re tired of seeing the tents lining the downtown business district. This initiative began as an attempt to codify sweeps in the city charter, which is a foundational document, like the constitution of the city.

Their initial language was really, really bad. But they realized they weren’t going to get far without the legitimation of service providers and homelessness “experts.” So they allowed some service providers to have input, and after a number of revisions, the final language is much less bad than it was. Reading it, you might even think it sounds good: The initiative directs the city to create 2,000 units of “housing” (permanent or emergency) within a year, with services including mental health & drug treatment; and it says the city should keep public spaces clear but balance this with the harm done to people by clearing encampments. And now, the whole thing “sunsets” (expires) after six years.

But here’s one major catch: No new funding is identified for all this work. In fact, the campaign claims that none is needed. Last week in Crosscut, TRU’s general secretary Katie Wilson thoroughly debunked this ridiculous claim.

And here’s another catch: While the measure promises “housing,” creating permanent housing in one year is a tall order, so whatever the city does cobble together will likely be “emergency housing,” a.k.a shelter— and as the city scrambles to fulfill the mandate, it might even pull funds away from creating permanent housing.

The ballot title— what voters will read on their ballot in November, if the campaign gathers enough signatures— is extremely misleading, claiming that this measure will create housing and services and keep public space clear of encampments. We’re challenging this title because voters deserve to know the truth. Amending the city charter is not the right way to make policy, and it’s not going to solve our homelessness crisis.

What can begin to solve the crisis? Listening to homeless people, who are experts on their own situations. Supporting grassroots homeless organizations like WHEEL, SHARE and Nickelsville. Actually creating more housing! Addressing the deep underlying causes of the homelessness crisis, including a profit-driven housing market, systemic racism, and decades of neoliberal policies. Being honest about the scale of the homelessness crisis and serious about coming up with the resources needed to address it. And electing a new Mayor who will lead on these issues, rather than just sweep, sweep, sweep.

TRU will continue to push for real answers. And we’ll call out the fake ones. Join us!

Seattle’s eviction moratorium expires March 31. If we let this happen, a mass wave of evictions could increase homelessness and contribute to a new spike in COVID-19. This week in Crosscut, TRU’s Katie Wilson wrote about why the city & state eviction moratoriums must be extended through the end of 2021. Read more here.

Rental assistance programs need time to work, and tenants need stability to get caught up on rent. Seattle’s moratorium also protects small businesses and nonprofits. Today, we sent a letter to Mayor Durkan signed by 47 organizations calling on her to extend the moratorium through the end of this year. Want to add your voice? Send Mayor Durkan an email here!

It’s Black History Month! We’re here to help you study up on your Black transit history. And while you’re here… How ‘bout a quick action to advance racial equity in transportation in our own day? Sign in PRO on House Bill 1301, to help us decriminalize fare non-payment. If this bill passes, Sound Transit can no longer tell us that state law forces them to rely on court-issued civil infractions when riders can’t pay. The deadline to complete this action is 2:30pm on Monday, Feb. 8.

The real Rosa Parks & the long history of Transportation Protest

“Over the years, I have been rebelling against second-class citizenship. It didn’t begin when I was arrested.”

“I don’t believe in gradualism, or that whatever is to be done for the better should take forever to do.”

The story of Rosa Parks and the Mongomery Bus Boycott you learned in school wasn’t just skewed, it was way less interesting than the reality. The New York Times breaks it down.

Rosa Parks’s act of civil disobedience is only the most famous in a long, long history of Black people protesting segregated transportation systems. This history goes back at least to Frederick Douglass, who along with a friend in 1841 refused to leave a train car reserved for white passengers in Massachusetts. Their action led to organizing that resulted in Congress passing the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which granted Black citizens equal rights in public accommodations— until it was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1883. Read more about the history of civil rights transportation protests here.

Safe Bus: Transit Mutual Aid

In 1926, in segregated Winston-Salem, NC, 13 Black jitney operators banded together and founded Safe Bus, a bus company to serve the Black neighborhoods where the privately-operated streetcars didn’t run. It grew to 75 employees and at one point was called the largest Black-owned transportation company in the world. In 1966, 20-year-old Priscilla Estelle Stephens became the first female driver for Safe Bus. Eventually, in 1972, the company was bought by the city and integrated into the public transit system.

The Real McCoy: Black ingenuity advancing transportation

Black inventors have left their mark on transportation history. Back in the 19th century, inventor & engineer Elijah McCoy, a child of escaped slaves, developed new lubricants for railroad steam engines. It may be apocryphal, but they say the superiority of his products led railroad engineers to ask for “The Real McCoy.”

Andrew Jackson Beard, a former slave who became a flour-mill owner and then an inventor, created a device that automatically joined railroad cars together, eliminating the need for a worker to stand between two cars to drop in a metal pin— a dangerous job that sometimes led to the worker being crushed.

Granville T. Woods, the first African American mechanical and electrical engineer after the Civil War and a prolific inventor, authored many transportation-related inventions— notably the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph, a device that allowed for communication between trains.

Garrett Augustus Morgan, a child of freed slaves, was a businessman, inventor and community leader. After witnessing a serious vehicle crash, he invented and patented one of the first three-signal traffic light systems in 1923.

Philadelphia Transportation Company strike: It ain’t all pretty

Labor unions have a complicated track record when it comes to race. Some unions have been staunchly anti-racist, all about forging multiracial solidarity. But at other times, white workers have banded together not just to fight the bosses, but to protect their privilege and their jobs from competition with Black workers. That happened, big-time, in Philadelphia during WWII.

The Philadelphia Transportation Company, which operated the city’s trolleys, buses and subways, employed Black workers as porters and tracklayers but refused to hire or promote them as drivers or conductors. Effective organizing by Black-led civic groups and churches led to the federal Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC) ordering the company to promote Black workers. 

But the white members of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Employees Union were not pleased. They walked out and shut down the entire Philadelphia mass transit system for five days. The conflict spread to the streets where Black protesters retaliated against white-owned businesses, smashing windows and slashing police tires. The strike was ultimately broken by federal troops sent in by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Within a year, large numbers of Black workers had been promoted.

2020 was quite a year. Here is some of what we accomplished together:

Rising to the COVID-19 challenge

In early March, just as shut-downs were starting, we recognized the profound economic impact the pandemic would have on our communities, and especially on people who were already struggling. TRU seized the moment and teamed up with allies at Working Washington and Washington Community Action Network to build a broad coalition that sent a strong and effective message to elected officials across Washington state: 

“We urge you to use your emergency powers to preserve medical benefits, halt evictions, prevent utility  shut-offs, and provide emergency income assistance.”

#SeattleNeeds Relief: Taxing Big Business

In Seattle, we brought the call for economic relief to our Mayor and City Council, holding one of the first socially distant demonstrations in April at City Hall.

Working with both the Tax Amazon Coalition and the JumpStart Seattle Coalition, TRU played a crucial role in winning a progressive payroll-based tax on our city’s largest corporations, expected to raise between $214 and $250 million per year for COVID relief, affordable housing and a Green New Deal! 

#BlackLivesMatter: Police & Public Transit don’t mix

TRU members joined the Seattle uprisings in the wake of George Floyd’s killing, and we learned that King County Metro buses were being used to transport a militarized police force to the protests. With allies we raised the alarm — also issuing a joint statement with transit rider groups across the country — and won a commitment from King County Metro to cease this practice. 

Supporting Transit Workers & Transit Riders

Public transit is essential, and so are transit workers! 

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, TRU has been working allies including ATU 587, the union that represents Metro drivers and mechanics, to fight back against layoffs and to navigate a rapidly changing safety landscape, to better protect both riders and drivers during the pandemic.

Fighting to Fund Public Transit & Protect Transit Riders 

Between plummeting sales tax revenue, Tim Eyman’s I-976, and lost fares due to COVID, public transit funding is in big trouble. TRU worked with allies locally and nationally to push for federal relief funding for transit, and we’re gearing up to fight for progressive, sustainable transit funding next year in Olympia, too.

On top of all that, Seattle’s transit measure passed in 2014 expired this year, threatening deeper cuts. When Mayor Durkan proposed a much smaller replacement measure, TRU and allies stepped up and pushed for funding more adequate to the need. Due to our pressure, the city council approved a measure that will raise 50% more than the mayor’s original proposal, a total of almost $40 million annually for bus service and affordable transit programs. 

Then, we got out the vote! We collaborated with a new coalition of transit rider groups around the country on an Oct. 6 day of action, launching the Seattle Safe Transit Project. In the month leading up to the election, TRU volunteers assembled and distributed over 1,000 transit rider care kits with masks, hand sanitizer and information about the ballot measure. Our efforts were featured in The Seattle Times, the Seattle Channel and the South Seattle Emerald. Seattle Prop 1 passed with over 80% of the vote!

ORCA for All & Decriminalizing Fare Nonpayment 

When 2020 began, TRU was in the middle of a major campaign called ORCA for All. Our central aim was to win a Seattle law requiring that large employers subsidize transit for all their workers, including low-paid workers who are currently much less likely to receive an employer-paid transit pass than high-paid workers.

When the pandemic hit we had to press pause on this legislation. But we did make progress on another piece of the ORCA for All campaign: decriminalizing fare nonpayment. After continual pressure from TRU and allies, Sound Transit announced it will run a “fare enforcement ambassador” pilot program in 2021, focusing on education and connecting people with affordable transit programs rather than fines and citations. We will be monitoring this closely and continuing to push for a commitment to divorce any future approach to fare nonpayment entirely from policing and the court system.

This fall also saw the rollout of a free annual transit pass program for the lowest-income riders, up to 80% of the Federal Poverty Level— a program we fought for for years. We are excited to see it begin, and will continue working to expand free transit to more and more riders until transit is fully-funded and free for all! 

Organizing for a Solidarity Budget

Facing a challenging 2021 Seattle city budget process, TRU teamed up with allies to build a huge coalition (200+ groups!) determined to stick together in solidarity and not be divided and conquered as we championed a pro-people budget: 

One that divests from policing and invests in Black lives, instead of doubling down on centuries of racial oppression. One that supports Seattle residents and small businesses struggling through the COVID-19 recession, instead of making things worse by slashing city programs. One that advances toward an equitable, world-class transportation system and a carbon-free city, instead of letting that vision recede dangerously into the future.

With leadership from Decriminalize Seattle and King County Equity Now, we fought hard to divest from the Seattle Police Department and invest in Black communities and community-based health and safety systems. While there is much further yet to go to actually meaningfully shrink the police force, the council reduced SPD’s budget by almost 20%, shifting some functions to other city departments and some funds to policing alternatives. Excitingly, at least $30 million will go to a community-led Participatory Budgeting process! 

Here are just a few highlights of other budget victories won through the efforts of the Solidarity Budget and allied groups:

• With the MASS Coalition, we fought to reverse damaging cuts to the transportation budget that would leave many communities behind. We won funds to complete the Georgetown to South Park Trail, repair sidewalks on Rainier Avenue, add protected bike lanes in South Seattle, complete the Rt. 44 multimodal corridor project, and build new sidewalks on Beacon Hill.
• Alongside our friends at SHARE, WHEEL and Nickelsville, we fought for city funding to support SHARE & WHEEL’s 24-hour shelters, Nickelsville’s Tiny House Villages, and SHARE’s Tent City 3.
• With the Mercer Mega Block Alliance, we fought to restore $30 million to purchase land for community-driven development projects in neighborhoods at high risk of displacement.

Encampment Outreach & Solidarity Fundraising 

Governments should be stepping up to shelter and house our homeless neighbors during this pandemic. Unfortunately, that’s not happening at scale. So this year, TRU members and friends stepped up — reaching out to people living in encampments, asking what they need and getting it for them.

We began fundraising for this project in August and already we’ve raised over $12,000, which goes directly to purchasing food, propane, batteries, water and other basic necessities.

This year TRU also mobilized the generosity of our members and wider network of supporters to raise funds for allies:

• We collected donations of groceries and raised over $2,500 for WHEEL’s 24-hour women’s shelter. 
• Practicing international solidarity with our sister organization Riders’ Rights Lebanon, we helped to raise over $2,000 for out of work bus and van drivers with no safety net in Beirut.
• Working with our allies in the MASS (Move All Seattle Sustainably) coalition, we organized a solidarity fundraiser raising over $7,000 for Seattle organizations WA-BLOC, El Comité and Creative Justice, which are all doing vital work organizing with Black and brown youth and immigrant communities in Seattle.

Wow, has it been an intense two months! In late September, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan released her proposed city budget for 2021. Thanks to the path-breaking big business tax we helped to win earlier this year, it wasn’t the all-cuts austerity bloodbath it might have been. But it still needed work.

Since then we’ve been working alongside comrades in the Solidarity Budget coalition to fight for a pro-people budget: One that divests from policing and invests in Black lives, instead of doubling down on centuries of racial oppression. One that supports Seattle residents and small businesses struggling through the COVID-19 recession, instead of making things worse by slashing city programs. One that advances toward an equitable, world-class transportation system and a carbon-free city, instead of letting that vision recede dangerously into the future.

On Nov. 23, the Seattle City Council passed their 2021 city budget with the leadership of budget chair Teresa Mosqueda. The mayor has said that she will sign it. (Yay! We don’t have to fight to override yet another Durkan veto.) You can read good local analysis in The Stranger, The Seattle Times, and Publicola.

We won a lot of things! And also, there is much more still to be done! Right after the final council vote, the Solidarity Budget team hosted a teach-in to review the progress we’ve made, and next steps. If you missed the livestream, you can watch it here.

Thank you so much to everyone who has taken action over the past two months to advance the goals of the Solidarity Budget: sending emails and making phone calls, testifying and taking action in the streets. These victories could not have happened without you. And we will need to stick together as we continue the struggle.

With leadership from Decriminalize Seattle and King County Equity Now, we fought hard to divest from the Seattle Police Department and invest in Black communities and community-based health and safety systems. While there is much further yet to go to actually meaningfully shrink the police force, the council reduced SPD’s budget by almost 20%, shifting some functions to other city departments and some funds to policing alternatives. Excitingly, at least $30 million will go to a community-led Participatory Budgeting process! (Want to get involved? Take this survey from the Black Brilliance Research Project.)

Here are just a few highlights of other budget victories won through the efforts of the Solidarity Budget and allied groups:

• With the MASS Coalition, we fought to reverse damaging cuts to the transportation budget that would leave many communities behind. We won funds to complete the Georgetown to South Park Trail, repair sidewalks on Rainier Avenue, add protected bike lanes in South Seattle, complete the Rt. 44 multimodal corridor project, and build new sidewalks on Beacon Hill.
• Alongside our friends at SHARE, WHEEL and Nickelsville, we fought for city funding to support SHARE & WHEEL’s 24-hour shelters, Nickelsville’s Tiny House Villages, and SHARE’s Tent City 3.
• With the Mercer Mega Block Alliance, we fought to restore $30 million to purchase land for community-driven development projects in neighborhoods at high risk of displacement.

We know that all our struggles and our visions of a just future are interconnected. In this very challenging year, the Solidarity Budget turned this truism into reality by building alliances across issues, bringing together the biggest, baddest, broadest coalition around. We showed that by working together we can make progress, instead of letting ourselves be divided and conquered. We will continue and deepen these collaborations in the months and year ahead, knowing that our work is far from done. Thank you for being part of the movement!

On Oct. 6, the Transit Riders Union launched our Seattle Safe Transit Project as part of a TRUST national day of action, calling on our elected leaders from federal to local to step it up and #TrustRidersFundTransit! Read all about it in the South Seattle Emerald.

Here in Seattle, from now through election day our team will be out at the bus stops and on the buses, handing out bags containing goodies including a mask, hand sanitizer, a snack, some TRU schwag, and voter information about Seattle Prop 1. Check out this article in The Seattle Times that features the project, and don’t forget to VOTE Yes for Transit!

On Oct. 15, we got the excellent news that the state Supreme Court ruled Tim Eyman’s Initiative 976 unconstitutional! Here’s our statement:

A Win for Transit Riders, Disability Community, Clean Air and Less Congestion

State Supreme Court Rules for the People in Striking Down I-976; Communities Now Have Green Light to Move Ahead with Transportation Improvements and Investments

Statements from Transit Riders Union, Climate Solutions and Washington ADAPT, three interveners in the case against I-976 that would have defunded transportation projects across Washington State:

“The court’s decision to overturn Eyman’s I-976 is a win for transit riders and for everyone in Washington state who benefits from a functional transportation system— and that’s all of us,” said Katie Wilson, general secretary of the Transit Riders Union. “It’s also a win for democracy, affirming the rights of voters in cities and transportation districts around the state to make their own decisions about how to fund transportation improvements and public transit. Now it’s time to get to work. Fully funding an equitable, sustainable transportation system will be essential to our state’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 recession.”

“Overturning I-976 is a win for anyone who rides transit and wants safer streets, hates potholes and congestion, and wants clean air and a healthy climate,” stated Vlad Gutman-Britten, Washington State Director for Climate Solutions. “The Washington Supreme Court today restored voter-approved transit initiatives. Now that this sorry saga is behind us, it’s time to focus on investing in the sustainable, affordable, equitable transportation system Washington needs.”

“The Washington State disability community will benefit from the I-976 decision if these funds go to more accessible public transit services,” said Janine Bertram of Washington ADAPT. “I-976 would have left disabled transit riders around the state stranded. 30 years after ADA was signed, we still have inadequate service and dysfunctional elevators. It’s long past time to make our transportation system accessible to all.”