Metro’s work force will grow by 121 full-time employees under the pending budget, despite tight economic constraints that are requiring additional taxpayer subsidies and major fare increases for riders.
The transit agency is slated to have 10,974 full-time employees in the budget that begins July 1, according to Metro, up from the 10,853 approved for the current year.
“Increases in staffing are directly related to Metro’s commitment to improving safety and reliability and maintaining the Metro system in a state of good repair,” Metro Deputy General Manager Carol Dillon Kissal told The Washington Examiner in a statement.
The additions come despite the elimination of 86 positions, including those of some workers who were escorted out of Metro headquarters the day they were given notice. But Metro is making up for that loss by adding 207 jobs, for a net increase of 121, according to an agency report.
The increase raised eyebrows among some Metro board members. “I am not going to object to what we are doing,” said Chairman Peter Benjamin, who added that he could justify new safety jobs but noted that they were being created as all the jurisdictions that fund Metro are cutting their own staffs or enacting furloughs.
Only a small share of the jobs, however — fewer than 60 — are directly related to the system’s safety. Among the new positions are 125 new operations slots such as track walkers and schedulers, 15 program managers, three workers to improve the fare collection system, and 14 “trainees.”
Some of the additional positions, including 25 cops and three administrators for stimulus programs, are initially funded by federal grants, though it was not clear what will happen to those jobs when the grants are depleted.
The transit agency is adding 207 positions, for a net increase of 121 after administrative cuts:
» 61 track walkers
» 50 scheduling slots
» 22 track worker protection safety and other safety slots
» 15 program managers
» 14 trainees
» 5 to oversee the six-year capital funding agreement
» 5 for more medical testing
» 3 fare collection system staffers
The following additional positions come through federal grants:
» 29 police officers
» 3 managers for TIGER stimulus grant
SOURCE: Metro
As in many businesses, workers constitute Metro’s biggest expense. Employee wages and fringe benefits make up more than $1 billion of the pending $1.4 billion operatingbudget, about 69 percent of operating costs, though some additional expenses are also included in the transit agency’s capital budget.
Metro has spent months grappling with a $189 million shortfall in its proposed budget and is running a deficit of about $25 million more than expected in the current budget. It is filling next year’s hole by asking riders to shoulder $108 million in fare increases and taxpayers to contribute an extra $25 million in subsidies. It also is borrowing $30 million more from its infrastructure fund and postponing paying off this year’s deficit.
