Talks with Milwaukee County Transit workers begin as drivers voice safety, wage concerns and the county faces a fiscal cliff

Threats and assaults. Poor worker retention, burnout and overtime. Limited to no bathroom or food breaks trying to make tight bus route schedules. Health insurance costs.

These are some of the personal testimonies that bus operators and mechanics shared with Milwaukee County Board supervisors during a recent public hearing about their experiences working for the Milwaukee County Transit System and concerns workers face.

Joyce Jones, a bus operator with MCTS, told supervisors about two incidents that occurred to her when she felt unsafe doing her job. The first was when she asked a rider to turn off his music and the rider's response to her request was to spit in her face. The second was when a man busted the windshield with his bare hands and had to call 911.

"We just need help — that's all," Joyce Jones, a bus operator with MCTS, told supervisors. "I just want to feel safe."

The hearing came days before members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 998 entered into contract negotiations with MCTS on Nov. 7 and 8. Negotiations usually occur every three years and have been the flashpoint for the often fraught history between union members and MCTS management. It also comes as County Board supervisors are set to vote on a county budget that could include steps to address safety concerns.

Earlier last month, 97% of union members voted against MCTS' latest contract offer, with roughly 93% of members voting to strike if MCTS would not be willing to adjust their offer.

"If we don't get a decent contract, we're going to have more employees leaving and that includes mechanics and operators." Donnell Shorter, president of the ATU Local 998, said at the hearing. "And as they leave, we can't fill those holes."

Shorter explained how a shortage in drivers has had a knock-effect on current bus operators, who often have to work overtime to replace those employees who have left MCTS.

MCTS management declined to comment directly about the contract negotiations but told the Journal Sentinel there are regulatory and mandatory overtime pay for drivers.

"It still comes down to wages — it also comes down to job quality," Shorter said. "We're running these routes so fast that it's just too hard to keep up with everything that's going on. We're always behind schedule. We don't get our breaks."

The union's two main objectives in ongoing negotiations are health care and wages in order to retain and hire more drivers and improve working conditions, according to Shorter.

"We need more operators to join us. The workforce we have isn't sufficient enough to do the service that we're trying to do," Shorter told the Journal Sentinel. "If we don't have decent wages and decent health benefits, we can't compete."

As of Nov. 4, there are 692 bus operators working for the county transit system. Bus operator staffing numbers can fluctuate between 680 and 710 depending on attrition and retirements, but could staff up to 760 to "be more flexible to address absenteeism and overtime," MCTS spokesperson Kristina Hoffman told the Journal Sentinel.

In one of the most recent efforts to recruit more drivers, MCTS has been offering $1,000 hiring bonuses for new drivers.

In the first year, drivers are paid $21.38 per hour with a cost of living adjustment added on. In years two, three and four, drivers receive $23.37, $25.48 and $27.27 per hour, after the cost of living adjustment.

New bus drivers also receive set wage increases during their first three years of employment — currently set at 10% in the first year, 9% in the second year and 7% in the third year. After the third, drivers receive contractually negotiated increases each subsequent year and have consistently received almost 2% wage increases annually over the cost of inflation and healthcare, Hoffman said.

'I'm ready to strike. I'm ready to quit.'

For Cynthia Simpson, an MCTS bus operator, assaults on drivers are not being addressed.

"I was actually assaulted my first year on the job and I didn't get any feedback from my employer — it went not talked about," she told supervisors. "There's been a lot of attacks on operators whether it's weekly or daily something needs to be done."

If drivers have a complaint or concern, they are encouraged to talk to their union steward or station supervisor and if a security incident occurs on a bus, the driver is advised by MCTS to contact Dispatch. Depending the nature of the call, Milwaukee police, medical personnel, security or a supervisor will be sent to their bus, Hoffman said.

Bus operator, Johnny Lapkins voiced his concerns for his safety as well as of other drivers and riders.

"I'm ready to strike," he said. "I'm ready to quit."

Jones, who has worked for MCTS for 21 years explained at the Nov. 1 public hearing that when she first started working for the transit system she did not have to pay for health insurance, but her take-home pay has remained unchanged after paying more for health care.

"I enjoy driving the bus and I deserve a raise,” she said.

Employee contributions to health premiums have increased 1% annually in three of the last four years. The employee contribution remains flat for 2023, Hoffman said. MCTS said since 2000, average annual earnings after accounting for health costs have increased from $43,428 to $60,951.

Similar concerns and frustrations also extend to the mechanics who work for the transit system.

“People are fleeing this company like it’s on fire and we’re asking you to help us save the transit system," Kyle Handel, a mechanic with MCTS and an executive board member at ATU Local 998, said at the public hearing.

Transit faces a fiscal cliff

The transit system's budget has been heavily reliant on federal pandemic funds since 2020, with $25 million included in the 2023 budget proposal. The department, however, has long faced financial upheaval, and federal funds are projected to be exhausted by 2025. The system anticipates a $40 million deficit as early as 2025.

Some of the proposed cuts in County Executive David Crowley's 2023 budget proposal shared in early October include the end of the currently not-in-service Freeway Flyers, termination of the paratransit taxi serviceand sizable reductions to bus services on Routes 52, 92, 34 and 88. Later that month, the County Board's finance committee voted to restore funding for paratransit taxi service, following outcry from the disabilities community.

During the county committee's budget hearing on Nov. 4, supervisors unanimously approved an amendment for recommendation to the County Board that would create an MCTS Safety Taskforce to investigate ways to improve safety for bus operators and riders as well as a solution to address current safety concerns.

The task force would include Supervisor Peter Burgelis, who was appointed to the Milwaukee Transport Services, Inc. board of directors, an MCTS representative, a Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture representative, an ATU Local 998 representative, and Supervisor Ryan Clancy, chairman of the Committee on Judiciary, Law Enforcement and General Services. If approved, the task force would dissolve on Dec. 31, 2023, but can be renewed by County Board policy.

"This task force brings the right people together to come up with the best strategy to implement or to increase rider and operator safety and security for Milwaukee County Transit," Burgelis told the Journal Sentinel.

The County Board is set to meet Thursday to adopt the 2023 county budget.

Contact Vanessa Swales at 414-308-5881 or vswales@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Vanessa_Swales.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Talks with MCTS workers begin as bus drivers voice safety concerns