Roughly 100 Prince George’s County bus drivers went on strike early Monday, halting morning commutes for thousands of riders.
The contracted drivers, all 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.”
Veolia officials would not return phone calls for comment. The company is contracted by Prince George’s County to operate TheBus, the county’s public transportation system.
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.
County officials are working with Veolia to restore bus service, 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, Teamsters Local 639. 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.
