This is an update on driver layoffs. The EMTA employees already know about this, so I’m directing at riders and others.
▪️On Monday July 27 the drivers union and EMTA reached an agreement about pandemic-related layoffs.
▪️Service wont be affected by the layoffs, though some drivers livelihoods definitely will be.
▪️22 drivers will be on layoff.
▪️The decision about who gets to stay appears to be completely about seniority.
▪️In March of this year, largely because of the pandemic, ridership dropped by 85%. Service had to be cut and 39 drivers were laid off.
▪️Company has called back approximately 17.
▪️The agreement was hammered out and arrived at between union and company.
▪️Although the rider support and concern were appreciated by affected drivers, it is hard to imagine that in this particular issue they could have made a difference, because of what the parties had to work with.
▪️As I understand it, the drivers who are laid off may still be called back within 24 months?
▪️Very sorry for those who are among the laid off at this time. Hopefully this whole situation that caused this will be turned around soon. 🙏
~deb
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Note: The agreement between ATU Local 568 and EMTA is a bit more detailed than this. However, as I said, this was written for riders, and I wrote it for ease of understanding what was going on. Also, I know the company and union describe the agreement a little differently than the other, and I tried to stay as basic as I could. ~deb
