Bus operators and other workers out of the Cinder Bed Road garage in Lorton are on strike Thursday over what they are calling “unfair labor practices,” while contract negotiations with WMATA contractor Transdev continue.

Meanwhile, insufficient communication from Metro has left riders fuming after buses didn’t show up on certain routes Thursday morning. Many bus routes were canceled Thursday afternoon and others are running on a reduced Sunday schedule.

It’s unclear when the strike will end, but ATU Local 689 leaders say workers will not go back “until they get what they deserve.”

Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said after Thursday’s Metro Board meeting that Transdev’s contract includes the company having contingency plans, and then communicating those plans to Metro.

“As you can imagine, all a sudden, coming up with 80 people … is not something you do instantaneously,” he said.

Wiedefeld said they alerted bus riders as soon as they heard the news from Transdev. The union sent a press release about the strike at 10 p.m. Wednesday. The first MetroBus alert went out at 7 a.m. and Metro’s first statement came out at 8:30 a.m., hours after most commuters are done traveling to work.

Wiedefeld said they’ve had threats of strikes before and nothing happened, so he didn’t want to prematurely announce something that might not happen.

The Cinder Bed Bus Garage serves operates about 5 percent of MetroBus routes. The union said routes include the REX, 29K, 29G, 29H, 29C, 29N, 29W, 17B, 17G, 17H, 17M, 17K, S80, S91, 18P, 18G, 18J, and 18H.

In a statement, Transdev said it was disappointed in the strike, calling it “premature and needlessly inconveniences the passengers … We remain committed to the collective bargaining process and apologize to customers for the hardship caused by the union’s tactics.”

Union Authorized Strike Two Months Ago

Thursday’s strike is the first since 1978. ATU Local 689 voted to allow the strike on Aug. 26.

The workers at the new Cinder Bed Road bus garage in Lorton say they want the same pay and benefits as other regional bus operators. The union and Transdev have been in negotiations since February and are back at the table again as of Thursday.

Transdev, WMATA’s contractor for the garage, says its pay and benefits are on par with other transit companies that have 80-100 bus operators.

Last fall, Metro contracted out the new Cinder Bed Road facility to French transit company Transdev in an effort to keep costs down. It’s the first privately-operated WMATA bus garage in more than 40 years, the union says.

The union says Transdev specializes in taking over public transportation systems and slashing wages and benefits.

“The Local 689 members at Cinder Bed drive the same routes, on the same roads, with the same buses as WMATA, but they earn $12 per hour less than other operators in the region just because they work for a private contractor,” a union release said. “Transdev workers at Cinder Bed are provided health insurance with a $6,000 deductible while WMATA employees don’t have a deductible.”

ATU International President John Costa said Transdev and WMATA “cut corners at every turn with the Cinder Bed Facility.”

“These workers are toiling at far lower hourly wages than their public sector MetroBus counterparts despite driving the same vehicles on the same routes,” Costa said. “The Cinder Bed workers have walked off the job because they’ve had enough.

“They are fed up with being used as pawns for austerity-minded politicians that want to ‘cut-costs’ on the backs of workers and riders while Transdev is raking in profits off their low wages,” Costa continued.

At Thursday’s Metro Board meeting, several Cinder Bed Road workers spoke during public comment about their working conditions, and about Transdev’s training, which they say is inadequate.

Calvin Thompson said his bus often smells of exhaust fumes. “I have had complaints from passengers … I almost got sick,” Thompson said. “Nothing ever happens” to fix it.

Others said inspection stickers on the buses were expired.