More than 30 MetroAccess workers fired for using cell phones while driving have been reinstated even though they were caught under Metro’s new zero-tolerance policy for employees caught chatting or texting at the wheel.
Twenty-nine drivers and two mechanics were given their jobs back, with some picking up passengers as soon as they were rehired, according to their union. Another driver who had been caught texting was hired back to a job at the service’s call center.
In July, Metro General Manager John Catoe said any employees who used cell phones while operating trains or driving buses would be fired on a first offense, after a video surfaced of a driver text messaging. Violators previously were allowed three strikes before being kicked out.
However, the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1764 fought the firings that occurred after the policy took effect.
“It is a distraction, we know that,” said Wayne Baker, the local’s president. “But the contract didn’t list it as being a serious infraction.”
MV Transportation spokeswoman Nikki Frenney said the company agreed to rehire the employees because they had been caught while the two sides were still negotiating over how to change the collective bargaining agreement to incorporate the new rules.
“Through negotiations, MV was able to get the union to agree to the zero tolerance policy going forward and as a compromise, the employees were allowed to return with the understanding that a single offense going forward will result in permanent termination,” she wrote in an e-mail.
However, union members said MetroAccess drivers still faced a conundrum: They are required to use Nextel phones to stay in touch with the dispatch center. The new rules say they cannot use the phones while the vehicle is moving.
Pulling over in traffic can be tricky and drivers fear being late, especially for high-maintenance riders. If they don’t return a call quickly, they said, their schedule for the day can be eliminated.
Yet only some of the employees fired were caught using the Nextel phones to speak with the service center.
Metro said MetroAccess officials were reviewing workers’ training, with plans to start a new pilot program early next year. Currently, MetroAccess drivers undergo at least 110 hours of training before becoming certified to transport riders.
The service has been plagued with high turnover. A 2008 independent report commissioned by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments found the service had a 111 percent turnover rate among drivers, more than triple the national average of about 30 percent.
