Saying More About Safety on the CTA
On April 27, 2026 the hosts of Say More on WBEZ summarized some ideas I shared upon their request. If you want to fast-forward to my message, move the red dotted playhead to the 43 minute mark: https://www.wbez.org/say-more-with-mary-dixon-patrick-smith/2026/04/27/what-would-make-you-feel-safer-on-the-cta The Better Streets Chicago spokesperson never worked at the CTA front line. So naturally, my point of view as a front-line worker has no relevance. Yet this begs a hypothetical question: Why are CTA workers not central to decisions made about our working conditions? I will let you come up with answers in the comment section. Although the host Patrick, did a decent summary, I wanted to share exactly what I sent him: Safety at the CTA begins with the working conditions. An example: O ne Person Train Operation is a failure (the Conductor craft was killed through concessionary bargaining by former Local 308 president Jerry Williams in 1999). We cannot safely p...
