Roughly 150 Prince George’s County bus drivers went on strike early Monday, halting commutes for thousands of riders and threatening to hinder voter turnout for Tuesday’s primary elections.
The contracted drivers, employed by Veolia Transportation, say they want more job security, better health insurance, higher wages and lunch breaks.
“The key issue for us is job security because we are being so mistreated by them,” said Kathleen LaFortune, who has worked for Veolia for the last year. “We are just tired.”
The strike comes one day before Maryland’s primary elections, in which Prince George’s voters will decide on a new county executive, sheriff, state’s attorney and at least five council members.
Veolia is contracted by Prince George’s County to operate TheBus, the county’s public transportation system. The company managed to restore half of its 60-bus fleet on Monday by pulling in drivers from other states and counties.
“We are covering 18 of 25 routes,” said Ruth Otte, spokeswoman for Veolia. “But the buses won’t be coming around as often.”
Veolia has been in negotiations with the drivers’ union, Local Teamsters 639, to renew its contract — which expired July 1. Union leaders say they have been unable to reach a compromise. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday.
County officials are working with Veolia to restore more buses before the election, said Susan Hubbard, spokeswoman for the county’s Department of Public Works and Transportation.
“It was unannounced,” Hubbard said of the strike. “We don’t know why they decided to go on strike today.”
LaFortune helped organize the boycott with the drivers’ union. She said the company’s disciplinary system for drivers is too harsh.
“Progressive discipline is rarely used,” she said. “They just go from suspension to termination — for the littlest things, like running a yellow light.”
Cameras on the buses’ dash boards record bus trips to monitor driver behavior.
“We get pulled in [for discipline] if we hit the brakes too hard to avoid an accident. They say we are following too close. They pull you in there and suspend you, and the next thing you know you are terminated,” LaFortune said.
Riders can check the county website for updates at 8 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. as the strike continues, Otte said.
