ATU protests low wages for DC Circulator drivers

On the 3ed of May, members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1764 showed up at the DC Circulator's garage in NE to demand that First Transit pay the Circulator's drivers a living wage. The DC Circulator is outsourced to First Transit, so their drivers are not covered by ATU's contract with Metrobus. Circulator drivers are paid a full $10 an hour less than Metrobus drivers to do the exact same work due to this outsourced contract. ATU is now in the third round of contract negotiations with First Transit in an effort to get fair pay for DC Circulator drivers.

The difference between the $20 an hour Circulator drivers get and the $30 an hour that allows Metrobus drivers to keep up with rent and groceries is a wider spread than the difference between what Wal-Mart and Giant pay their employees. Driving any bus in city traffic is difficult, highly skilled work with potentially deadly consequences for the slightest mistake. This is even more true with the known unsafe busses with maintainance and safety issues First Transit is using on the DC Circulator routes. To get a picture of just how difficult this is, imagine going to U-Haul or Ryder and renting the largest truck you can legally drive on a normal noncommercial drivers license and drive in on suburban roads, staying out of traffic for safety reasons. Now imagine driving something twice this size, carrying as many as 50 people, in dense city traffic every day. The consider doing all of this sometimes with bad brakes or other safety issues. Still think $20 an hour is enough for all this? Try having to keep a CDL or commericial drivers license with drug testing and medical requirements and serious consequences for any ticket, even in your personal car.