Daily News, Wednesday, September 27, 1989

Handicapped protesters gain support

Photo: A man kneels in the middle of a group of three people in wheelchairs, as they talk. Behind him another man stands looking down. One of the three people in wheelchairs, Mike Auberger, with his braids, is seen from the side; another facing the camera has on a hat covering is eyes; and the third has his or her head down reading a paper in their lap. photo by: JOHN BAZEMORE /Daily News
Caption: Steven Diaz, chief counsel for the Urban Mass Transportation Administration, meets Tuesday in Atlanta with protesters to discuss their concerns.

The Associated Press
ATLANTA — Handicapped protesters who occupied a federal building for two days won a pledge of support from the Bush administration Tuesday, but failed to get their main demand — a federal order requiring wheelchair lifts on all new public buses bought with federal funds.

The Department of Transportation “cannot issue a summary order commanding immediate access including wheelchair access for all transit,” said Steven Diaz, chief counsel for the Urban Mass Transportation Administration, who met with the protest leaders. “We would if we could."

But Diaz said DOT officials and the protesters had agreed on three points:
* Transportation Secretary Samuel Skinner will be urged to meet promptly with disabled activists to ensure a “principle of accessibility” until Congress passes the Americans with Disabilities Act.
* The protesters will be allowed to continue a “symbolic presence" at the Richard B. Russell building in downtown Atlanta.
* Officials will relay to Skinner the protesters’ concern that new rules for handicapped accessibility to air travel are not being drafted quickly enough.

"This agreement by no means resolves the problem of access; it just brings us a step closer," said Mark Johnson, 38, of Alpharetta, one of the protest leaders who met with Diaz and other DOT officials.

He said he didn't know whether the protesters would leave the building, where they blocked elevators and entrance doors earlier Tuesday. “We may stay here through Thursday, or we may just leave a sticker on the wall. There could be a constant vigil at the building, or we could all leave," he said.

The protest by members of ADAPT, or American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, began Monday when Skinner was in Atlanta to address the convention of the American Public Transportation Association. At least two dozen protesters chained themselves to doors or blocked exits with their wheelchairs Monday.

Authorities attempted to eject several protesters from the building Monday evening, but President Bush intervened and let them spend the night inside rather than send them out into the rain.

Created on

Friday 12 July 2013

Posted on

Wednesday 8 April 2015

Tags

accessible transit, ADA, ADAPT, disability, DOT Secretary Skinner, fall 1989, Mark Johnson, protest, Russell Federal Building, UMTA

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