The City of Grand Rapids, along with The Rapid, and other area elected officials, hosted an event to show off some of the newest buses that are powered from compressed natural gas (CNG).
The event held at the 6th Street Bridge Park was meant to showcase the new CNG buses entering the Rapids fleet to replace aging buses. It is a celebration, moving forward to less expensive gas that will be converting CNG and moving away from diesel. The new buses burn a fuel that is also a cleaner gas, better for the environment.
Elected officials and those in attendance didn’t anticipate that members of the local Amalgamated Transit Union bus driver’s union would be there to disrupt their celebration.
“It’s freedom of speech and people have the right to be heard and this is a public space” Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss said.
Working without a contract for the past two years, ATU members held signs and chanted “No Contact, No Milliage” loudly above and over the speaking officials. The failure of The Rapid board to sign a contract and how it was impacting union members was of greatest concern to the members present.
“I think CNG is definitely a step in the right direction, and they should have done it years ago,” protester Peter Ricketson said. “Maybe they could have spent forty-million dollars on this instead of the Silver Line which has been an abject failure”.
Media Works of John Rothwell 