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OmniRide will offer its first commuter service into the D.C. area since bus operators went on strike three weeks ago, but enough drivers remain out of work that both commuter and local service remain severely limited.
Starting Tuesday afternoon, OmniRide resumed limited service between the Horner Road commuter lot and Pentagon thanks to what the agency called 鈥渋ncreased manpower,鈥� but other commuter routes are still indefinitely suspended due to the Teamsters Local 639 strike.
According to Keolis and OmniRide Director Bob Schneider, enough operators have remained at work throughout the strike to allow for local buses to run every 90 minutes, but a contract agreement between the union and Keolis 鈥� the private company that operates OmniRide service 鈥� remains out of reach and many bus drivers remain on strike.
On weekday mornings, OmniRide will run nine northbound shuttles from the Horner Road lot between 4:45 and 9 a.m. 10 southbound shuttles from Pentagon back to Horner Road will run between 2:15 p.m. and 8 p.m. In announcing the schedule, OmniRide said it 鈥渨ill continue to reinstate service incrementally, as manpower permits.鈥� Throughout the work stoppage, paratransit has continued to run.
With negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement ongoing, Teamsters Local 639 announced the strike Feb. 14, citing a need for better pay, less time to reach the top pay levels and better retirement benefits.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not working for nothing no more,鈥� Local 639 Treasury-Secretary Bill Davis said at the time. 鈥�… We鈥檙e looking for a liveable wage that has a pathway to a top-scale wage. And right now, they鈥檙e offering a decade to get a decent wage, and we鈥檙e just not going to agree to that.鈥�
Statements from both sides at last week鈥檚 meeting of the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission — the governing body that funds OmniRide — indicated that the union and Keolis have gotten closer to a deal in recent weeks. But the negotiations for how long it takes operators to reach the top pay levels has been a major sticking point.
According to Keolis, pay raises for all employees 鈥� up to 26% for some 鈥� have been offered, along with a plan to condense what鈥檚 been a 16-year pay scale to nine years in year one of the contract and six years by the fourth. Mike Ake, Keolis鈥� regional vice president, told the commission that doing so would be 鈥渉orrendously expensive鈥� but necessary to stay competitive in the increasingly tight market for commercial driver鈥檚 license (CDL) holders.
According to Ake, the two sides had 鈥渞eached agreement on about 84% of the articles in the collective bargaining agreement.鈥� But in order to afford the pay increases, Keolis says it has to maintain a two-tiered pay scale, with one tier for its commuter bus drivers and another for its local route drivers.
Ake said that kind of bifurcation is an industry standard, but a Teamsters representative told the commission during public comment that they couldn鈥檛 agree to the two-tiered scale.
鈥淎 CDL operator is a CDL operator. They all go to school. They all learn how to drive the bus 鈥� The only thing different is where they鈥檙e driving the bus, and until we get that straightened out, we鈥檒l never come to an agreement,鈥� John Estes, Local 639 business agent and negotiator, said at the meeting.
As of last week, OmniRide Director Bob Schneider said that about 35 employees were continuing to report to work with more returning 鈥渂it by bit.鈥� With the strike ongoing, OmniRide is also in the process of finalizing its upcoming fiscal 2024 budget. The聽Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission board approved a fiscal 2024 budget that includes the last $10 million left of its federal COVID-19 relief money. The budget also relies on a fare increase for commuter service from $6.90 to $9 and a more than doubled local subsidy of $21 million total from fuels tax collected by Prince William, Stafford and Spotsylvania counties as well as the cities of Manassas, Manassas Park and Fredericksburg.
鈥淚n FY2023, we reduced local share of the budget to $10.5M (20 percent) using recovery funds, which is why the increase this year is significant,鈥� OmniRide鈥檚 staff report on the budget says.
In considering their own budgets, some local officials have already expressed concern about the local subsidy increase for the commission, which will likely only grow once all of the agency鈥檚 relief funds have run out. According to Schneider, the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission and OmniRide have simply given Keolis a funding number to work with. Otherwise, the negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement have exclusively taken place between Keolis and the union.
For the first time since the pandemic, OmiRide鈥檚 express service had topped 4,000 average daily riders from May to December last year, reaching a post-COVID peak of 4,411 average daily riders in September. Last November saw the agency鈥檚 post-COVID high mark for local service ridership at 2,384 average daily riders.
Last week, one commuter bus rider from Prince William told the commission that since Feb. 15, she鈥檇 lost two hours of sleep per night and her commute had increased by three hours every day. She blamed the commission board for not doing more to prevent the strike.
鈥淚 am tired, I am financially drained, and I am angry,鈥� she said. 鈥�… It is evident that this work stoppage has been allowed to occur. This board and Keolis had 10 and a half months to prevent this disaster for Northern Virginia citizens. You knew 10 and a half months ago that this collective bargaining agreement was an issue.鈥�
Meanwhile, in Loudoun, Keolis operators for Loudoun County Transit have been on strike since Jan. 11. Leaders from Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, the employees union there, have called for the county to penalize Keolis, but Loudoun County officials have maintained they can鈥檛 fine the company, telling the Loudoun Times-Mirror that they believe neither ATU Local 689 nor Keolis have acted in bad faith.
Last week, Estes, the negotiator for Teamsters Local 639, offered an apology to riders who鈥檇 been impacted by the service disruptions in Prince William County.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not good for me, the union. It鈥檚 not good for [PRTC]. It鈥檚 not good for the commuters or anybody else involved,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e feel like we鈥檙e getting close to a deal.鈥�
Prince William County Supervisor and聽Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission board member Margaret Franklin said that while the board was not involved in the negotiations, she wanted to see an agreement reached soon.
鈥淚 want this resolved as quickly as possible. Our commuters need to get back to work,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o whatever you all need to do that is reasonable and rational on both sides, that鈥檚 what we need to do.鈥�
