WASHINGTON 鈥� Metro managers are leaning on workers to let trains run on potentially dangerous tracks and are allowing contractors to work extremely long shifts, members of Metro鈥檚 largest union say in statements set to be read to the Metro board of directors Thursday.聽
鈥淚f I, as a front-line employee, am not willing to say the track is safe, and it’s not ready to have regular train service running on it, managers shouldn鈥檛 pressure me to say it is. But they do. WMATA is terrified of pissing the public off, but I鈥檓 more concerned with making sure they don鈥檛 die! The public will get over being mad 鈥� they can鈥檛 get over dying,鈥� Antonio Ross鈥檚 prepared statement read. He has worked at Metro for seven years.
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 provided excerpts from the prepared remarks ahead of Thursday afternoon鈥檚 board meeting, during which several union members plan to make statements during the public comment period.
Several of the union statements to be made Thursday ask for more coordination between Metro managers and workers out on the trains or tracks every day.
General Manager Paul Wiedefeld told reporters Wednesday that a disconnect between front-line workers and upper management is common in the transportation industry, and he continues to attempt to address the problem at Metro.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not there yet, but it is the key 鈥� it鈥檚 about recreating that organizational pride and that means communication, it means listening, it means taking ideas, but it鈥檚 also letting people know why you made decisions,鈥� Wiedefeld said.
Documents prepared for Metro board committee hearings Thursday indicate that top Metro management believe is one way to ensure workers stay focused on the job, in this case regarding trains repeatedly running red signals.
鈥淢r. Wiedefeld, if you believe threatening and scaring employees into doing the right thing is the best way to manage this system, then you will never have a workforce that trusts you or anyone in management,鈥� Ross鈥檚 remarks read.
In marking , acting Federal Transit Administrator Carolyn Flowers聽wrote that 鈥渇or all the safety improvements WMATA has made, it remains a long and difficult task to instill the strong safety culture that is required for true and lasting change.”
The post cited achievements including the fact that 鈥� for the first time since 2012 鈥� all rail traffic controllers have now completed annual certifications. There have still been communications problems between the troubled Rail Operations Control Center and other Metro workers, but some FTA inspections have noted improvements.
There has also been increased safety training for nearly 2,000 of the Metro workers whose jobs bring them onto or near the tracks, and whose certifications had expired.
That did not keep federal inspectors from by a speeding train last week.
There have been separate safety problems tied to by , and a train operator even walked off an out-of-service train this weekend, as . That incident is under investigation.
A 10-year veteran Metro worker, Alan Young, cites a lack of training opportunities as another key issue.
鈥淭hey rush us through training, if we鈥檙e able to go to an actual class. Sometimes all we have is a PDF document or a packet of papers that they make us sign for at the end saying you understand. Most people feel embarrassed and just sign it,鈥� his remarks read.
show many training classes, even during so-called 鈥渟afety stand downs,鈥� may only have a handful of workers in attendance.
The union, which is currently in negotiations over a new contract, is also set to express concerns about Metro buying equipment that either does not work well or does not get used.
鈥淢r. Wiedefeld, we are asking you to stop this madness. We鈥檙e tired of being overlooked especially when it comes to our knowledge of the system. WMATA management spends millions of taxpayer dollars on 鈥榗ontractors and experts鈥� without acknowledging that our experience has made us experts on this system,鈥� Gavin Pitt, an equipment operator with 28 years of experience, is set to say.
Other concerns from the union include contractors working too many hours in round-the-clock聽track-work zones. While the Federal Transit Administration has expressed concerns about Metro employees working 12 hours a day, up to six days per week, because of the risk that fatigue could cause serious safety issues, the union says there are even fewer policies in place to address fatigue of contractors.
One worker is set to tell the Metro board that some contractors may be working 7 days a week or 20 hours per day.
Metro鈥檚 round-the-clock聽track work plan leader Laura Mason told 草莓传媒 last week that Metro believes its workers are striking the right balance between getting work done and getting time off. There is , after six weeks of wrapped up Wednesday and before .
