ATU STANDING ON RIGHTEOUS, FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE, LIVING THROUGH THE AFTERMATH of IDA the Hurricane

RTA RENEGE ON HURRICANE PAY FOR DRIVERS from the AFTERMATH of Hurricane IDA

WorkWeek On  9-22-21 New Orleans ATU 1560  President Valerie Jefferson Fights Firing & For Justice
https://soundcloud.com/workweek-radio/ww-9-22-21-atu-president-valerie-jefferson-fights-firing-for-justice

New Orleans RTA ATU Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1560 Union president Valerie Jefferson alleges retaliatory firing over hurricane hazard pay
https://thelensnola.org/2021/09/14/rta-union-president-alleges-retaliatory-firing-over-hurricane-hazard-pay/

                 Union demands agency address safety concerns immediately

Rails Operators forced to drive buses. RTA do not have enough Bus Operators for 100% of service for New Orleans.

RTA has forced Rail Operatrors over to the bus side to drive routes everyday to fullfill the demand of bus service. Rails Operators have noit been train to operate bus everyday, go through the nieghbors and make turns on buses. SHAME ON RTA to put our lives in danger. ATU Local 1560 asked RTA to hire more Bus Operators, Train Rail Operators and to have training, safety and deescalation classes. ATU Local 1560 Safety Committee is ready to join RTA for such training and classes. RTA have not invited ATU Local 1560 Safety Committee to no safety Management meeting for we can discuss a plan for safety.

ATU Local 1560 is willing but, RTA is not willing to work together in good faith for the betterment of transportation in Orleans and surrounded parishes.

         New Orleans, LA – In a threat to rider, worker, and public safety, the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (NORTA) has been forcing mandatory overtime on transit workers and sending out untrained streetcar drivers to operate buses due to an overwhelming shortage of drivers.

The agency was left unprepared starting over the weekend when it went to one hundred percent transit service as part of the city reopening since the pandemic despite being short more than eighty drivers. Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1560, representing NORTA workers, has warned that mandatory overtime and untrained drivers put the riders and public at risk. While the city is currently hiring, the Union says it’s thirty days too late.

“You have streetcar drivers who are being forced to drive a bus, and they don’t have any time behind the wheel. They’re driving a bus they haven’t been trained on and routes they don’t know,” said Local 1560 President Valerie Jefferson. “We are glad to see the city reopening in our recovery from the pandemic, but we’ve been telling them they need to hire more drivers, but they didn’t. Now it’s a serious public safety issue.”

The Local is calling on NORTA to hire the necessary staff, end mandatory overtime by correcting the schedule, and stop untrained drivers from being dispatched.

“Forced overtime and sending out untrained drivers is unacceptable,” said International President John Costa. “Our sisters and brothers in New Orleans have been frontline heroes throughout this pandemic and deserve better when it comes to conditions that affect their lives and the lives of their passengers. The safety concerns of our members and riders needs to be addressed immediately.”