RTA Strikes Impact Sinclair Community College

Recently, RTA drivers have been on strike, impacting colleges such as Sinclair Community College. Sinclair sent this email out to its students on January 9, 2017, “We want to inform our students that there will be no RTA service today (January 9) due to the union strike. It is likely that service could continue to be significantly disrupted this week and possibly beyond. We encourage those who may be impacted to find alternative plans for transportation to campus.” The college also estimates a number of 1,500 students will be impacted by this strike, according to the Dayton Daily News. But why are they striking? According to the Dayton Daily News, “The negotiations between the Greater Dayton RTA and its drivers and mechanics union hinge on two major issues: pay and insurance costs.” Also, the drivers are showing how much their job is being underappreciated. By striking, they are showing that by them not working, it disrupts the entire city.

The union and RTA drivers tried to reach a compromise on Sunday with the city government but did not strike a deal before the beginning of the new semester on the following day. Even the mayor of Dayton and representative of the state were trying to get the deal made. However, RTA did alert people that there are not buses, regardless of what the bus tracking app says. Under the hashtag #RTAStrike on Twitter, people of Dayton can be found begging for the union to work with the drivers, and also people who are willing to give rides to those who are being stranded in the cold in the mornings. Others are helping those who do not have rides by using the promo code, “DaytonLyftNow,” on Lyft to get a free ride.

As the three groups of people tried to come to an understanding, a community was brought together. On January 11, 2017, the union, RTA drivers, and the city government sat down for 13 hours in order to make a deal. On Thursday, RTA went back on Twitter to tell everyone the buses would be back on their usual schedules. Thousands of students and people trying to get to their destinations will have their usual bus rides back at the latest on Friday, January 13, 2017.