WASHINGTON -- On the eve of more talks to avoid a strike by Metro's largest union, the transit agency announced Thursday that a new Metrobus garage in Virginia will be operated by private contractors.
Metro awarded an $89 million, five-year contract to TransDev to operate the new Cinder Bed Road bus facility in Lorton. One hundred and forty employees will drive and maintain buses, a Metro spokesman said.
The transit agency said the move will keep rising labor costs under control without sacrificing existing jobs.
“To preserve current service levels for customers and protect jobs for our existing employees, Metro is working to contain cost growth,” said Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld in a news release.
Moments after the announcement, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 classified the contract as an unnecessary outsourcing of otherwise union jobs. The union said Metro is relocating nine bus lines from the Four Mile bus garage to the new facility.
"The members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 want Metro to be a safe, affordable and reliable transit system, and we know that privatization won’t make that happen," said a union statement.
Metro said TransDev already operates in Prince George’s and Loudoun Counties as well as Detroit, Los Angeles, and Pittsburgh. A Metro spokesman said 95 percent of TransDev's domestic employees belong to a union.
A Local 689 spokesman said the new contract "will be discussed at the negotiating table" on Friday when meetings with Metro leaders are set to continue. Tensions between Metro and Local 689 are still running high after the union voted to strike July 15.
A Metro worker strike would be illegal and has not yet taken place. After a wildcat strike by Metro workers in 1978, roads region-wide became choked by traffic.
