 “I really don’t think the problem is the driver shortage. I think that the problem is the wage shortage,” ATU 689 president Raymond Jackson told the Washington Post last Friday. He was responding to the Post’s reports that nearly two years into the pandemic, “transit systems battling a decline in passengers and fare revenue in the Washington region are facing another hurdle: a bus driver shortage that threatens their ability to resume normal operations.” Local 689 represents workers at Metrobus, D.C. Circulator, Fairfax Connector, Alexandria’s DASH, Loudoun County Transit and MetroAccess. Jackson said compensation for transit positions at some local systems is not competitive enough in an economic environment where people with commercial licenses are in high demand. “Blue-collar workers in this country have had enough and that’s what we are seeing. We just want fair wages and fair benefits. That’s all we’re asking for.”
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