The chair of the Chicago City Council Black Caucus is calling for an urgent meeting with the head of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) after the agency abruptly terminated contracts that reportedly left more than 70 Black security workers out of work with less than a week’s notice.

Understanding the Role of CTA in Community Safety

The Black security workers are among approximately 250 full-time employees who lost their jobs after the city replaced them with armed security officers to patrol CTA trains and buses.

Mayor Brandon Johnson and CTA Interim President Nora Leerhsen are defending the decision, saying riders would be safer with armed security personnel. Alderman Stephanie Coleman, chair of Chicago’s 19-member Black Caucus, said the move betrays the city’s commitment to equity. Coleman said the firms that employed the workers—Monterrey Security and its two Black subcontractors, Kates Detective & Security and Rush Solutions—should have been given more time to address concerns instead of being notified the same day the contract ended.

On Friday, April 17, those firms learned their multimillion-dollar contract had ended, and funds were redirected to pay officers and other trained personnel whom CTA officials said are “better equipped” to keep riders safe. CTA told Monterrey Security that its 250 full-time guards’ last day would be that same day. The termination surprised Monterrey Security, which reportedly signed a one-year renewal of its CTA contract just three weeks earlier.

City records show the CTA agreed to a three-year, $44 million contract with Monterrey Security in 2022, with two one-year renewal options. However, according to a letter CTA reportedly sent to Monterrey, the agency claimed it had the authority to cancel the contract because it was no longer funded.

Coleman denounced the “sudden termination” of the contracts as a “betrayal of the city’s commitment to equity,” noting the impact on Black workers and businesses. She said that if the CTA had concerns about security, “three Chicago-based firms that service socially and economically disadvantaged areas that renewed their contracts three weeks ago” should have been given an opportunity to provide “a remedy so they can further their business instead of just putting them out on the streets.”

Coleman told the Chicago Sun-Times, “The notice that they were sent was, ‘We’re out of money.’ But the announcement to the general public is, ‘We’re moving in another direction with armed officers.’ If the direction of the Authority was to go toward armed security guards, both of these firms are former sheriffs.”

In a statement, Coleman demanded the CTA convene an “urgent meeting” with the Black Caucus and the two Black subcontractors to “develop a transition strategy that includes job placement opportunities or contract extensions.”

At a news conference this week at the 51st Street Green Line station, where the CTA kicked off its construction season, Johnson was asked about the decision to cancel the contract. He deferred the question to Leerhsen.

“That contract—in long-established, mutually agreed-upon terms—would expire when all the funds were used. And that’s what occurred. That was a longterm understanding between the parties,” Leerhsen said.

“It’s critical that we have the right resources on CTA to meet the needs of our riders. And as we grow our resources, we also have to be strategic and smart about what is the right resource on CTA. And that was the decision here: to not continue to add funds to that contract, but move forward with other resources.”

Coleman noted that Leerhsen has been acting CTA president for nearly 18 months because Johnson has yet to name a permanent replacement for former CTA President Dorval Carter Jr.

“I blame a system that has failed Black and Brown people, and I blame a system that is failing Chicago-based firms that employ those in socially and economically disadvantaged areas, and my job is to speak up for those 70 to 80 officers who are now without work due to an Crime remains a concern on CTA trains and buses.

In recent months, the agency has increased police presence on its system while facing pressure from the administration of Donald Trump. Last fall, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration threatened to cut CTA funding if the agency did not address security concerns following a series of high-profile
incidents.