Mobile bus drivers on the verge of strike, Mobile mayor says transit spending not 'viable'

WAVE public buses ran on Tuesday, but earlier this month, there were major disruptions and hours-long delays after nearly three dozen drivers called in sick to spotlight their labor dispute with management. Now, the transit union's president says their last and final contract offer this week may leave them no choice but to go on strike.

"How likely do you think that is to occur? asked NBC 15's Andrea Ramey.

"I'm thinking it's going to occur, and the reason being, because right now, with the options that have been put on the table, it will leave us no issue, no other way of just doing what we got to," said ATU Local 770 President Antonie Mabien.

Mabien says drivers in Montgomery make almost $4 more an hour than drivers in Mobile, and there are work conditions that need to be addressed. Third-party company Transdev manages the WAVE transit system. Its contract with the city is up in June. Mobile is set to spend $10 million this fiscal year on WAVE, an amount that's nearly doubled since 2020, due in part, a city spokesperson says, to declining federal funding.

"We really do need to come up with a better solution than what's currently going on because of the sheer expense of it. I mean, what the city of Mobile is spending on and what it costs us per passenger is not a long-term viable way to go about it," said Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson.

Mabien says from the workers' standpoint, the transit system could improve with better fiscal oversight.

"If you go looking at the parking lot of the transit system, you'll see all these vehicles that is not needed, all these assistants that is not needed," said Mabien. "No one is down there making sure things are being ran right or making sure that the money is spent in the proper place."

On Tuesday, the Mobile City Council approved spending an additional $100,000 on a supplemental transportation operation. Mobile Chamber’s low-cost rideshare program MoGo gets people to and from work. Mobile Chief of Staff James Barber says now, with the threat of a transit strike, the city is talking to MoGo operators about expanding the program to offer destinations to medical facilities.

"Whenever there's that type of threat, then it forces us to contingency plan on how to get people with life-saving needs to whatever appointment that they have," said Barber.

Last year, which was MoGo's first year, the Mobile Chamber says 680 riders logged 12,000 rides. 

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Russia, Ukraine agree to Black Sea truce, US says

Ukraine and Russia have agreed to stop military strikes in the Black Sea, with Moscow demanding the US give direct orders to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to respect the move.

US officials hope that the signing of a Black Sea truce could serve as a stepping stone for a greater cease-fire deal to end the war after more than three years.

After both sides failed to reach a consensus on a wider cease-fire deal with US mediators Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Kremlin will at least agree to pause fighting in the busy trade route as long as it gets guarantees from the Trump administration.

The Trump White House on Tuesday said Ukraine also has agreed to the limited cease-fire deal.

After Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, both sides initially agreed to a maritime cease-fire that allowed Kyiv to safely export nearly 33 million metric tons of grain — as Ukraine is one of the world’s largest suppliers of wheat.

But Moscow withdrew from the truce a year later after being hit with sanctions over its invasion, with maritime attacks continuing since then.

The new deal would open up the Black Sea for Ukraine’s grain export, as well as Russia’s profitable grain and fertilizer exports.

Zelensky has previously said he is willing to adhere to any limited cease-fire deal so long as Russia commits to it.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense noted that the movement of Russian warships outside the “eastern part of the Black Sea” would constitute a violation of the agreement and stand as a “threat to the national security of Ukraine.”

The two sides had previously agreed to limit their land attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure after a meeting between President Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, only for Moscow to attack Ukraine’s energy grid hours later.

Kellogg emphasized that even with this agreement, there’s still a long way to go to reach a peace deal.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was still “analyzing” the results of the latest discussions Tuesday after both Russia and the US failed to make a joint statement on the results.

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