Metro Access Drivers Ponder Strike

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Metro Access drivers are seriously considering striking Veolia Transportation and the MV Transportation Call Center, reports ATU Local 1764, which represents drivers, maintenance workers, reservationists, schedulers and dispatchers there. Key issues at stake include working hours – drivers now work 13 hour shifts and the employer is demanding longer hours -- stress, equipment failures, affordable health care, job security and living wages. Negotiations had bogged down earlier this month with both employers but another meeting has been set with MV for Tuesday and Local 1764 President Wayne Baker says he’s ”cautiously optimistic” an agreement can be reached and the strike averted.