Demanding wages that allow them to live in the city they serve, dozens of transit workers who operate the D.C. Circulator - a District-controlled bus service funded by the District Department of Transportation and operated by private multinational First Transit - rallied outside of the Wilson Building on Monday. "You can stand on the corner just a couple of blocks from the Wilson Building and watch a D.C. Circulator and a Metrobus glide by each other on the same street," said ATU president Larry Hanley. "But what you don't see is that the Metrobus driver makes a living wage and earns a dignified pension, while the Circulator driver makes almost $8 less an hour, probably works a second job, and can work her whole life without expecting to earn enough to retire." Circulator workers, represented by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1764, asked Mayor Bowser or the Council to allocate $3 million to help bring Circulator operator wages to parity with equal-seniority Metrobus operators. "How can you justify having two people do the same job but relegate one of them to a life of poverty?" Hanley continued. photos by Todd Brogan/ATU
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