Proposed new limits on how much Metro employees can work will likely become a key sticking point in contentious contract negotiations with the agency’s largest union in the coming months, after a report found long days leading to fatigue. The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 contract expires by the end of June, with initial talks on the new one expected to begin as early as January. Negotiations between Metro and the union were already expected to be tense, after the agency lost a court battle this year over wage increases.
Now, Metro officials have said they plan to rely on a study released last week by the Tri-State Oversight Committee on worker fatigue as leverage in the upcoming negotiations for the new contract. “This report is really important,” Metro’s second in command, Dave Kubicek, told board members Thursday.
But ATU Local 689 President Jackie Jeter has already staked her ground with a letter to Metro officials. “They’re not concerned about fatigue,” Jeter told The Washington Examiner. “They’re just concerned about it when a scathing report comes out.”
The key issues highlighted in the report are how many hours employees can work in a single day and how many days in a row they can log without a day off.
Train and bus operators currently must get eight hours off every 24 hours, meaning no more than a 16-hour workday. Other workers have no official limits. The report found that some employees occasionally work 16 hours or more in a day, as The Washington Examiner first reported in May.
The transit agency now says it is planning to phase in a 14-hour limit by April 2014.
