Metro plans to delay making changes to its SmartBenefits program for a year and to eliminate one disliked element, after causing a kerfuffle when it announced modifications last month to the popular fare benefit program.
General Manager John Catoe announced the delay Wednesday night at a public forum in response to an audience question. He also said commuters could continue to carry over unused fares from month to month as they do now. That’s a big change for workers, who howled when the agency proposed giving those unused fares back to employers.
The agency did not release additional details Thursday because Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said officials were still waiting for approval from the Internal Revenue Service. But she said Metro officials had met with IRS workers earlier this week and they seemed “receptive to the concept.”
The dispute between Metro and its largest union grew more visible Thursday as about 15 Metro workers picketed in front of Metro’s downtown headquarters.
“Catoe’s got our money, now we’re worried, say hey,” they sang. “No
contract
means …” a woman chanted into a megaphone as workers responded back, “… We’ve got to fight back.”
The
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689
did not endorse the picket line, according to a union official. The unsanctioned action could signal growing dissent among workers as union elections loom next month. The dispute is over 3 percent raises for the next three years awarded by an
arbitration
panel. Metro has appealed the decision, saying the arbitrators failed to take into account the agency’s ability to pay. The union has filed its own court action to try to force the agency to give the raises. – Kytja Weir
About 207,000 people use the SmartBenefits program, which gives riders up to $230 to pay for transit through their employers. Some companies and federal agencies give the benefit to employees, while others allow workers to pay for it with pretax wages.
The plan introduced last month called for splitting the benefits into two categories for transit fares and for parking fees to meet IRS standards. But the change also called for kicking back unused benefits to employers at the end of each month instead of letting them accrue on riders’ plastic SmarTrip farecards as they do now.
The change upset riders whose SmartBenefits come from pretax wages, fearing they might lose their money. Some also were concerned the move would delay other promised upgrades to the SmarTrip program. Others were confused about the details and how their employers would have time to make the changes in time for the Jan. 1 start.
The proposal even prompted some human resources managers to walk out of explanatory meetings.
Metro got the message. Earlier this month, Catoe told riders in an online chat that he was rethinking the plan.
