Updated: Jackson city bus drivers vote to go on strike but don't say when it will begin

About 4 Minutes

The union representing drivers and other employees of Jackson’s bus system voted overwhelmingly Friday night to strike amid stalled contract negotiations with the company contracted to run JTRAN.

Come Monday morning, Charles Tornes, the president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1208 and a bus driver, said he will post signs in JTRAN’s office notifying the company, MV Transportation, of the impending strike.

The union did not immediately reveal when the strike will begin but said it would not be during this weekend.

“This is not just a fight for us,” he said. “It’s for the ridership and the public.”

Forty-four union members, many still wearing orange MV Transportation shirts, took the vote during a two-hour meeting in a white building across from the Jackson Zoo. After a unanimous vote to oppose the company’s most recent contract, the union voted to strike, with six members opposed.

JTRAN provides hundreds of thousands of rides each year across the city. The strike will impact low-income and disabled people who depend on the bus system to get to work and medical appointments, including dialysis.

Tornes said his 40-foot bus was standing-room-only at various points Friday along his route that loops from State Street to County Line Road. He said he would ask the union about ways to support Jacksonians amid the strike.

“We’ve become friends with a lot of these people that ride,” he said. “We don’t want to see them get left behind.”

The union has been negotiating with MV Transportation since early 2024 about pay raises and other issues. Tornes said the last day of negotiations was Wednesday.

“We’re at an impasse,” he told Mississippi Today hours before the union vote on Friday.

In an open letter to the city released on Thursday, MV Transportation claimed the union had rejected a company proposal that would have raised wages for some employees.

“Rather than recognize the realities of a difficult situation and seek to find common ground, local union leaders flatly refused every proposal presented, including proposals to get the help of a federal mediator in order to resolve our differences,” the letter said.

Tornes said the company’s description of its proposal in the letter was inaccurate.

“Well, absolutely all that is false,” he said.

The potential strike comes as MV Transportation is proposing an overhaul to the city’s bus system that would shorten the work day by two hours, eliminate two routes, cease Saturday services and expand on-demand "microtransit" services.

The city’s Planning and Development Department brought the proposed redesign before the Jackson City Council on June 2, but the council did not vote and referred the agenda item to a planning committee.

The changes alarmed a vocal contingent of bus riders in Jackson who rely on JTRAN to get around the city.

“Nothing happens in my world without JTRAN,” said Scott Crawford, a Jackson resident and disability rights advocate.

The union said it had asked the company for details of the redesign, but the company never provided it.

“Of course, the public is against it and we’re against it,” Tornes said. “We think all the routes we have are essential.”

MV Transportation and the union have been negotiating a contract since a previous collective-bargaining agreement expired in December 2025.

The union and MV Transportation have sparred in the past, with members voting to strike for two weeks in 2024.

Federal mediators ultimately assisted in resolving the dispute.

Update, 6/12/2026: This story has been updated to show that the union has voted to go on strike.

Molly Minta

Jackson Reporter

Molly Minta is a reporter on Mississippi Today’s JXN desk with a particular focus on public safety and quality-of-life issues. Her reporting has been recognized by The Green Eyeshades, the Mississippi Press Association, and the Education Writers Association. Molly earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida. She lives in central Jackson.

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