Mourning Yet Another Transit Brother

RIP Brother Bruce Rodriguez, Culver City, CA Bus Operator

Deke's Note: A few weeks ago we participated in the ninth annual BANDTOGETHER movement. I began this post when it started September 20, but didn't want a rerun post. The dismal lack of local  participation in a simple silent protest was depressing. Great support was shown by our fellow transit workers in Austin, TX and Brooklyn, NY but I didn't see much elsewhere. 

I waited to assume the proper tone addressing the issue I have been most passionate about, OUR safety. If you have ANY interest in transit, as a passenger or transit worker, I hope you read this. Whatever influences your particular brand of doom scroll, know I am real. Been here 13+ years now, suffered attacks and resulting PTSD, but still writing the bus. It's about to get more deep than anything else you will likely read today.

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I sat on this post three weeks. Not another tired rerun about why I support this grassroots movement coined #BANDTOGETHER. Begging any legitimate reason to leave the profession I came into at 52 years of age 14 years ago. Then three days ago, I awoke to the news that our Culver City, California Brother Bruce Rodriguez was murdered as he drove his bus.

A passenger allegedly shot him over a "you missed my stop" dispute. I'm pretty sure the investigation will reveal the guy who killed our brother was looking at his phone as Operator Rodriguez passed his stop, Then he probably pulled the stop request cord and yelled "Hey, you missed my stop!" His misplaced fury likely intensified when our brother did what any of us would also do: roll to the next stop. It's a century-old transit rule that if you don't give us enough notice of your intention to disembark at a certain stop, you are unceremoniously treated to the next one. The safest thing to do. Evidently, our brother's inability to read his passenger's mind earned him that lethal response.

I copied Mr. Rodriguez's family photo from a Facebook post. You can see his devotion to his two young babies, and the wife who will now raise them without his love. I had to stop writing because tears clouded my vision. I was sobbing at the thought it could have been me, you, or any other transit worker. It doesn't matter whether I knew Mr. Rodriguez personally, but as a fellow bus operator, yeah... I knew him. We all did, because we've been in that same situation numerous times.

Too much violence, and it tears me up. Every... fucking... day. If only our management would even acknowledge this collective pain some of you refuse to accept, perhaps we'd see less violence on transit.

RIP Shawn Yim,
Seattle WA

We started #BANDTOGETHER in an effort to illuminate the dangers we ALL face out there. Operators both rail and bus, Supervisors, Mechanics, anyone else who braves their city streets to provide safe and reliable transit. It's not what some have accused us of, as some publicity stunt. None of us who wear a simple BandAid every September are looking for attention other than its original intent. Still, many refuse to join the movement because of some misplaced political or other motivation. Nobody's running for office based on a silent protest meant to illustrate the dangers we face simply doing our jobs as transit workers. 

We're largely unprotected, and often disciplined when we act in self-defense as we believe ourselves in danger. We are not allowed to carry any implements of self-defense such as pepper spray or anything which might be construed as a "weapon." Even as much as striking another to ward off an attack could see us disciplined. Our first line of defense, widely-spread Road Supervisors, are limited to rolling at the speed limit, rather than being given the same priority as other emergency vehicles when responding to our pleas for support. Once again, management shows its lack of "safety first" procedures versus prioritizing discipline while our lives are at risk.. 

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Four days since Operator Rodriguez was murdered, not a public statement of remorse or condolence from our transit management in Portland, Oregon. I'm still waiting for our own local, hell even our international union, to make a statement condemning this ruthless attack which widowed a young mother of two. Unlike when Seattle's Shawn Yim was murdered nearly two years ago. Or Leroy Ramos in Georgia just days later. Or Thomas Dunn in Florida previously. Or others too numerous to mention, each equal of unanimous and increasing fury.

Have we devolved into a society overwhelmed with mayhem that this is just another murder, different day? I know our hearts and souls are much more generous than that. Maybe many of you are afraid of repercussions from up on high. Just please realize that power comes in the many tens of thousands of US, not from any government's feeble attempt to silence you.

RIP, Brother Leroy Ramos, Atlanta GA

We see, yet don't believe, management's "safety" statements. They tighten our schedules, delete routes, and still give undue credence to passenger complaints against the US for their decisions which drive thousands away from riding transit. They're even contemplating raising rates (again) even though service declines every year. Who is the target of the riding public's fury? Those who provide the service.

Where's the furious outcry from management, condemning even the thought of violence against its frontline workers? Why haven't they offered condolences from this city, which the rest of this country considers a wet nurse for those who commit most offenses upon society at large? I'm still waiting for our GM to march up to his free soapbox and scream his support for those of US who make his job possible, to warn of the most dire consequences to those who attack us. To hold my breath for such would be suicidal. So spare me your faux safety speeches. Words are only as powerful as the actions which follow.

In honor of Operator Rodriguez this week, I will wear the BandAid on my doorside cheek. In silent protest. Because I honor his memory in the work which WE continue, and in sympathy for his family and co-workers left behind in terror of the unwarranted violence which tore him away from us all.

I'll continue using this pulpit from which to scream alone. If I am (God forbid) murdered while operating my vehicle in service, please paint an old bus black and give me the sole honor of rolling my ashes home. Maybe some of you would wear a BandAid that September with my initials written on it. Meanwhile, I will keep my support personal for any and all who have suffered attacks, either here or out there. It's the least we can do.

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You are no safer than our Brother Rodriguez was. He'll go his grave mourned by many as you do your jobs this week. Meanwhile, another fresh-faced newbie will be hired to replace him. That's how the wheels of transit roll. You'll leave home expecting to return safely after your shift. But it's not guaranteed. We're all vulnerable to the horrors humanity offers itself. 

Meanwhile, I simply ask any of you reading this to hold Bruce Rodriguez's memory in your hearts as your work in transit continues. Along with all those who perished before him. All the while using the following tag echoing my prayers for your constant well being: #nomore.

Roll safely, brothers and sisters, wherever you are. May God bless you with peace and safety, and that you be reunited with those who love and depend upon you after every shift.

In solidarity, I am Bus Operator

Deke N. Blue

"The lug nuts of transit,"
Operator Thomas Dunn.