# JTRAN Workers to Strike Monday After 72-Hour Notice, Leaving Jackson Without Buses

> More than 60 bus drivers and transit workers will walk off the job at 4 a.m. Monday if no deal is reached with MV Transportation. The strike would strand thousands of riders who depend on Jackson's only public transit system.

*General News · By Jackson Wire Staff · July 11, 2026*

Jackson is about to lose its bus system. Again.

The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1208 issued a 72-hour strike notice Friday afternoon, telling the public that more than 60 JTRAN workers will walk off the job at 4 a.m. Monday, July 13, if the union and MV Transportation cannot reach a new contract. The Mississippi Free Press first reported the notice Friday.

The union and the Texas-based contractor that runs Jackson's publicly funded bus system have been at an impasse for months. The last contract expired December 31, 2025. A marathon bargaining session on June 27 ran from 10:15 a.m. until 1 a.m. the next morning. It produced nothing.

"Pretty much, they proposed the same contract that they proposed previously on June 9th and 10th, and we countered with what we thought was a fair agreement," ATU Local 1208 President Charles Tornes Jr. said at a Friday press conference. "They turned it down, and we left without a proposal."

MV Transportation disputes that account. In a statement Friday, the company said local union leadership "has refused to return to the table or move in their latest position while continuing to spread wild misinformation about our proposals and the negotiation process." The company said it has "made extensive preparations to provide as much service as possible in the event of a strike."

The city of Jackson declined to comment, according to the Mississippi Free Press.

This would be the second JTRAN strike in less than two years. Workers walked off the job for 14 days in September 2024 before ratifying a tentative agreement mediated by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. That strike stranded riders across the city and drew attention to the fragile arrangement at the core of Jackson's transit system: a publicly funded service run by a private contractor.

JTRAN operates 11 fixed routes with about 540 stops, serving a city where a large share of residents do not own cars. The system carried roughly 395,000 riders in 2024, according to FMCS records. A strike would affect not just commuters but people who rely on the bus for medical appointments, grocery shopping, and getting to school.

"We care about our riders whom we transport each day and do not want this strike to happen," Tornes said in the union's statement. "The Union does not tolerate companies that try to bully workers by bad faith bargaining at the table."

The core dispute goes beyond wages. The union has objected to MV Transportation's proposal to eliminate two bus routes, cut Saturday service, and replace some fixed-route service with an on-demand microtransit system. The city has said it has not approved any service changes and that the proposals remain under review. But the union sees the microtransit plan as a threat to driver jobs and rider access.

JTRAN driver Marquie Johnson spoke at Friday's press conference alongside Tornes. "We hate how the city is being impacted because we have a connection with a lot of people that we pick up," Johnson said. "It hurts us just as much as it hurts them." He said many riders have told drivers they support the strike.

The Communication Workers of America, whose local chapter led its own strike in 2024, has pledged to join the picket line. "They have until Sunday to present a new proposal or counter," Tornes said. "If they do not, we'll be proceeding with a strike 4 o'clock a.m. Monday morning."

The clock runs out at 4 a.m. Monday. After that, Jackson's bus system goes silent until someone blinks.

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[The Jackson Wire](https://www.thejacksonwire.com/) · [Read on the web](https://www.thejacksonwire.com/article/jtran-strike-monday-july-14-2026)