Transit Worker Leader Says Metro Needs “A Miracle”

The head of Metro’s union had some tough words about management and the overall situation at WMATA, telling the Board of Directors that “we need a miracle,” reports WTOP. Jackie Jeter, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union 689, said on Thursday that she understood why riders are frustrated with Metro. “We need something to change about what we do and how we do it. The union is always here, even though I question and wonder sometimes whether you really want our suggestions because they’re not taken, and I don’t feel that it’s taken seriously,” Jeter said. Jeter said Metro was too bureaucratic and that it took too long for things to be accomplished, complained that supervisors and employees were not sufficiently trained in their respective fields, and on Metro safety issues, she said too many frontline employees still don’t feel comfortable expressing their concerns without supervisors retaliating against them.