New Orleans Regional Transit Authority supervisors told New Orleans Council members on Thursday (Nov. 30) that the workers they manage are unfairly bearing the brunt of community backlash to unreliable service due to frequent breakdowns of an aging bus fleet, contributing to a “severe morale crisis” among agency employees.
In a presentation to the council’s Transportation Committee, operations supervisor Tierrani Clark-Esteen and other RTA administrative employees who are members of the United Labor Unions Local 100 said ongoing issues within RTA are not only affecting bus riders, they’re also affecting employees.
Union members placed the blame squarely on RTA leadership. They said the agency hires directors who are unqualified to hold their positions and complained that they received leadership positions over better qualified longtime transit professionals.
“The service that the community receives, that’s a reflection of the core,” Clark-Esteent said in the meeting. “The core is rotten.”
Under current leadership, they said, accountants with more than a decade at the agency are paid less than newer hires, mechanics lack training and in recent years road supervisors have been required to work lengthy shifts driving buses six times a week.
“We are workers who have lived and breathed transit for our whole careers,” Jermaine Tucker, an RTA operations supervisor, told council members. “And too often, we are taking orders from directors who are learning on the job.”
These grievances are why the group – operations and mechanical supervisors, safety analysts and other administrative employees – appeared at the Transportation Committee meeting and ask for council members’ help in getting RTA to recognize the union and all of its membership.
The union represents administrative employees and supervisors at the RTA. Bus and streetcar drivers, dispatchers, transit tellers and other employees are represented by a different union — the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1560, which has a contract with the agency.
The Local 100 employees are asking for more training for staff, clearly defined safety protocols that are adhered to and quarterly meetings between labor and management teams that encourage collaboration in problem-solving issues within the agency. They are also asking for better assistance for employees with family issues – a strong parental leave policy, a private lactation area and funeral leave for grieving employees.
In a statement an RTA spokesperson said the agency has reached an interim agreement with United Labor Unions.
“This will allow the agency to begin negotiations with eligible staff,” the statement said. “This eligibility is based on a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board. Once the permitted negotiations are completed, RTA is committed to working with the supervisors and all staff to make the RTA a great place to work and provide for families.”
The union followed a presentation by RTA CEO Lona Edwards Hankins, who detailed planned service cuts for the agency that are scheduled to begin early next year. Under the plan, the RTA will reduce the number of buses it has in active service and adjust its schedules with longer wait times between buses.
In an interview with Verite earlier this month, Hankins said the plan will help ensure that the agency is able to follow its schedules.
“If I tell you the bus is gonna be there at 3 o’clock, it is actually there at 3 o’clock,” she said.
Hankins also announced that the Rampart streetcar line, which was recently scheduled to return to service in January, will now reopen some time after Mardi Gras (Feb 13, 2024).
An RTA spokesperson who was at the meeting told Verite news that Hankins would not be available for an interview on Thursday. She left the meeting before the union representatives addressed the council.
“They don’t respect us. Who’s here in leadership?” Clark-Esteen said to council members. “Our leader walked out.”
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