A fare strike is a
direct action
Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest, in contrast to those actions that appeal to oth ...
in which people in a city with a
public transit
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
system carry out mass
fare evasion
Fare evasion or fare dodging, fare violation, rarely called ticket evasion, is the act of travelling on public transport without paying by deliberately not buying a required ticket to travel (having had the chance to do so). It is a problem in man ...
as a method of protest. Jumping turnstiles, boarding buses through the back or very quickly through the front, and leaving doors open in subway stations are some tactics used. In some cases, transit operators obstruct the fare box to prevent anyone from paying. Often, fare strikes are used to protest against fare hikes and service cuts, but they can also organize solidarity between riders and drivers.
History
The first historical mention of a fare strike in the United States was in 1944 in
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
when "streetcar workers threatened to refuse to collect fares in order to win a pay increase." The action was effective because "the City Council gave in before they actually used the tactic."
These kinds of "social strikes," collective acts of refusal where workers continue to provide services (in this case, transit) but do not collect any money, have occurred in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and parts of
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
.
In 1969,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
's "Hot Autumn" was sparked at
FIAT
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
's Mirafiori plant in
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
and spilled past the factory gates as workers coordinated movements using other forms of the social strike: FIAT workers refused to pay for the trams and buses and went into stores to demand reductions in prices, backed only by showing their factory ID badges. Others squatted houses and collectively refused to pay utility bills. These kinds of struggles spread throughout Italy until the end of the 1970s.
Another type of social strike occurred during the
1970 postal strike in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
when "letter carriers promised to deliver welfare checks even while on strike."
[Root & Branch, eds. (1975). ''Root & Branch: The Rise of the Workers' Movements.''Greenwich, CN: Fawcett Publications, p. 209.] In 2004, much like in the 1944 example in Cleveland, the
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
group
Midwest Unrest was able to organize a fare strike that forced the
Chicago Transit Authority
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its surrounding suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago 'L' and CTA bus service. In , the system had a ridership of , o ...
to back down on service cuts and fare increases. In 2005, at least 5,000 riders participated in the first ever fare strike in
Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, Canada.
In
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, in 2005, "Despite heavy police presence at major bus transfer points, at least a couple thousand passengers rode the buses for free in San Francisco on Thursday, September 1st - the opening day of a fare strike in North America's most bus-intensive city." Two of the main groups involved in organizing this were Muni Social Strike and Muni Fare Strike. Other community groups also participated, including the Chinese Progressive Association and "the one major extension of the strike, through the participation of the day laborers' organization in organizing among Spanish-speaking immigrants" working class in San Francisco's
Mission District
The Mission District (Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as The Mission (Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is ...
, where the strike was most successful.
In the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, there were fare strikes against
First Great Western
Great Western Railway (GWR) is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the Greater Western passenger railway franchise. It manages 197 stations and its trains call at over 270. GWR operates long-distance inter-city ...
in January 2007 and January 2008.
In
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, striking students in 2005 often used the subway as a means of transportation during demonstrations. As a group, the demonstration would enter the subway without paying, usually while chanting "Métro populaire."
In
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a protest Social movement, movement against economic inequality and the Campaign finance, influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Financial District, Manhattan, Wall S ...
activists chained and taped open service gates and turnstiles to the
subway system
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...
to protest "escalating service cuts, fare hikes, racist policing, assaults on transit workers' working conditions and livelihoods — and the profiteering of the super-rich by way of a system they've rigged in their favor" on March 28, 2012.
In
Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
, in 2016, a coalition of community activists boarded numerous city buses and refused to pay; part of a "Day of Action" against the
Interurban Transit Partnership
The Interurban Transit Partnership operates a public transit system called The Rapid, which provides bus service to the Grand Rapids, Michigan metropolitan area and beyond. ''The Rapid'' was recognized in 2004 and 2013 by receipt from the Americ ...
(ITP), which culminated in a
sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...
aimed at disrupting the scheduled ITP board meeting later that same day. The activists were protesting the board's refusal to negotiate a contract settlement with the workers of
Amalgamated Transit Union
The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) is a labor organization in the United States and Canada that represents employees in the public transit industry. Established in 1892 as the Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Employees of America, the un ...
Local 836, violations of those workers' First Amendment rights, a 16% fare hike, and a raise given to CEO, Peter Varga, while these perceived attacks on workers and riders were taking place. This was the first fare strike in
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
history.
See also
*
Protest
A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one.
Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...
*
Demonstration (people)
A political demonstration is an action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause or people partaking in a protest against a cause of concern; it often consists of walking in a mass march formati ...
*
Social action
In sociology, social action, also known as Weberian social action, is an act which takes into account the actions and reactions of individuals (or ' agents'). According to Max Weber, "Action is 'social' insofar as its subjective meaning takes ac ...
Notes
External links
San Francisco transit fightArticle from ''Z Magazine'' on the first day of the San Francisco fare strike by Tom Wetzel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fare Strike
Civil disobedience
Public transport fare collection
Strikes (protest)