WASHINGTON ( DC News Now ) — Layoffs have begun for roughly 90 Circulator employees, as the District prepares to start the phase-out of the transit system Tuesday.
“It’s been hell,” said Natarsha Guest, who received her notice on Monday.
Guest has been driving a Circulator bus for four years. She said the last several months have been emotional.
“This has been torture,” she said. “First, we get the 60-day notice. Then we don’t know who is going to be laid off until four days before.”
DC Circulator workers hold 2nd ‘Save the Circulator’ rally The District Department of Transportation (DDOT), which operates the Circulator, is cutting its service due to low ridership and high operating costs.
“Ridership changed significantly as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but unlike other similar services it has not recovered,” said Sharon Kershbaum, director of DDOT.
Still, Guest and other employees expressed frustration over treatment by the agency.
“We’ve been broken down on the side of the road, four hours waiting for a tow truck. We’ve been out on buses with no heat, no air but we still came to work and did the job,” she said. “But, then we come in here and it’s like, oh your job is over, take your letter. Your time is up.”
DDOT originally planned to phase out the Circulator in March of 2025 but decided to speed up the process, stopping service by the end of 2024. Changes start as early as Oct. 1, 2024.
WMATA will supplement some of the Circulator routes, but it will not fully absorb Circulator employees, as many originally believed.
“[We thought] it would be a transfer of service, and we would all go there but we later on found out maybe around the 18 th of July that that wasn’t going to happen,” said Guest. “WMATA came here and did a job fair saying we could apply and if we’re eligible for hire we can be hired. But you’re coming from $40 an hour to $29.50.”
DC Circulator passengers worry as service comes to an end in Rosslyn Because it wouldn’t be considered a “transfer,” any Circulator employees hired by WMATA will lose seniority and take a pay cut. Officials with ATU Local 689, which represents drivers, estimate the average pay cut will be between $10 and $11 an hour.
“Every driver deserves an apology from the city and we also should be compensated for the loss we took. This was a big loss for a lot of people,” said Guest.
Councilmembers pressed DDOT officials about the decision not to transfer employees into the WMATA system during a round table discussion last week.
In response, Kershbaum said, “The goal would be to help find employment for all of the Circulator staff, but the ownest is not on WMATA to solve that issue.”
WMATA and other transit agencies in the DMV have held hiring fairs for Circulator employees.
DC Council members are still considering other options to compensate employees.
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