On Thursday, Sep. 2, 2010, on the eve of the Labor Day holiday weekend, the Bus Riders Union was joined by Manuel Hernandez of SCOPE, Benetta Johnson of ACJC, and Mirna Cruz of SEIU local 1877 for a press conference at a local unemployment office to ask: With a billion dollars in new revenue, why is MTA Board moving to cut 123 good transit jobs and hurt job hunters' access to work by eliminating 400,000 hours of bus service?

Despite Reports of a deficit, MTA's  budget has increased

In contrast to many other struggling agencies, MTA's budget has increased by a billion dollars in the past 3 years. In a troubled economy where the L.A. County unemployment rate at 12.3% and that of people of color is almost 15%, MTA should not be considering any layoffs or service cuts. Buses are the backbone of LA's public transit and primarily serve the lowest income people across the county. Retaining service is key to protecting jobs and aiding those trying to find work. If the MTA board does not reject these layoffs and cuts, bus riders will be hard to pressed to keep their jobs or look for work. They will be forced to wait longer at the bus stop, walk longer to transfer or to their stop, or discontinue certain trips altogether.

At  Unemployment office, BRU  offers prescription: More Transit=More Jobs

Instead of these cuts in transit, advocates will be calling for a massive strategic
investment in job creation focused in transit. The event took place
simultaneously with similar rallies in 13 U.S. cities by members of the
Transportation Equity Network (TEN), showcasing More Transit =More Jobs which uses figures from 20 U.S. Metro areas to detail how the reprioritizing of federal funding to transit spending can create more jobs than highway spending.