Jackson Mayor John Horhn is hoping to stave off a strike of city bus workers that could leave low-income and disabled Jacksonians stranded in the summer heat amid stalled contract negotiations with the third-party company that manages JTRAN.
In an emailed statement Monday night, Horhn did not say what steps he would take to achieve that goal and was unavailable for an interview with Mississippi Today.Both sides of the dispute have asked the mayor to intervene.
The impending strike by the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1208, composed of bus drivers and other JTRAN employees, could occur any time in the next 30 days if the Texas-based management company, MV Transportation, continues to push for cost-cutting measures, such as hiring non-licensed commercial drivers.
The public service represents a lifeline for Jackson residents who depend on the buses to get to work, health appointments or the grocery store. While the precise number of Jacksonians who ride the bus is not known, JTRAN gives tens of thousands of rides each month, according to the city.
“My priority is to avoid any disruption in service while ensuring that our drivers are treated fairly and that residents who depend on public transit can continue to get to work, school, medical appointments, and other destinations,” Horhn said in the statement.
Jackson Mayor John Horhn speaks during a council meeting at City Hall in Jackson on Tuesday, April 21, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
The disagreement between the union and MV Transportation has also been exacerbated by a company proposal to save money that Horhn’s administration brought to the Jackson City Council two weeks ago.
Pieter Teeuwissen, the city’s chief administrative officer, pulled the measure before the council could discuss it. But the union felt the proposal undermined its negotiations with MV Transportation.
“We are carefully evaluating both perspectives to determine what makes the most sense for our riders, our workers, and our taxpayers,” Horhn said Monday.
In an open letter to the city, MV Transportation, which calls itself the largest privately-owned transportation company in America, said it had drafted the proposal “in response to Mayor Horhn’s citywide call to address Jackson’s significant fiscal challenges.”
Jackson is facing a sizable budget deficit. The company also said it is losing money on its current contract with the city.
“A service redesign, or some alternative outside funding which no one has been able to identify, is necessary to provide our employees with the substantial raises needed to make their wages competitive,” the company wrote in its open letter.
All told, the plan would save the city about $1.8 million out of a roughly $9 million contract, said Gary Coles, MV Transportation’s chief customer success officer.It would also save the company money.
The plan would cut two fixed-service routes, shorten the work day, eliminate Saturday services and allow MV Transportation to hire drivers without commercial licenses for on-demand, “microtransit” services.
Coles said the company wants to meet with Jacksonians to discuss the details of its proposed overhaul and is looking to hire interns to talk to bus riders. He also said the company is hoping city officials will step in.
“As far as Mayor Horhn or President (Brian) Grizzell in the council, Jackson needs that leadership right now,” he said.
At a press conference on Monday, Charles Tornes, a bus driver and the union president, said he met with Horhn months ago to discuss MV Transportation’s cost-cutting proposals. During the meeting, Tornes said the mayor said he didn’t have enough details to form a position.
Charles Tornes, a Jackson bus driver and the president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1208, explains the union’s rationale for voting to strike amid contract negotiations with the company contracted to run JTRAN on Friday, June 12, 2026. Credit: Molly Minta/Mississippi Today
But the union has not met with the mayor since, Tornes said.
The two sides have been negotiating what’s known as a collective bargaining agreement since a previous version expired in December 2025. The union voted to authorize the strike Friday after voting down MV Transportation’s most recent proposal.
Though JTRAN is publicly funded, the negotiations have so far been conducted in private. The union represents employees of MV Transportation, which holds the city’s contract to operate and manage the transit system.
Tornes said the union is mainly seeking competitive pay raises. The union also wants to maintain benefits it had won through previous contract negotiations but believes MV Transportation as attempting to curtail, such as bus drivers’ ability to select their routes.
“As a whole, we just feel it is an attack on our contract,” Tornes said of MV Transportation’s proposals.
For its part, Coles said MV Transportation wants to change how JTRAN assigns bus routes to drivers. If a driver cannot work on a particular day, Coles said the company wants to be able to call in employees on their days off.
“I wish I could give you a very clear explanation, and unfortunately I cannot because it confuses me,” Coles said when asked how driver assignments currently work.
The company is also seeking the ability to switch drivers between the fixed routes and its paratransit service for people with disabilities and other medical needs.
MV Transportation is also offering $500 bonuses to union members if the city implements its proposed redesign. MV Transportation has argued it cannot fund higher pay raises without the city agreeing to its money-saving measures.
In early June, the Horhn administration brought MV Transportation’s proposed overhaul before the council.
But after hearing from disability rights activist Scott Crawford and other concerned JTRAN riders, the administration removed the agenda item and referred it to a committee for further discussion.
The sides have sparred before. Months after MV Transportation won the JTRAN contract in January 2024, the union went on a two-week strike due to concerns over long hours, wrongful terminations and unsafe working conditions.
Then-mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba tried to act as a mediator between MV Transportation and the union. When that failed, he called on “both sides to return to the table and uphold their responsibilities to the residents who depend on them.”
