Union fights for DC Circulator staff as system phase out begins Tuesday

WASHINGTON (7News) — We’ve known that the DC Circulator buses in the District will be gone by the end of the year, but starting Tuesday, 90 bus employees will be laid off.

This is part of the city’s phase-out process to a bus system that has been around for two decades.

Since 2005, it has had an attractive, popular bus system. The DC Circulator bus system had 1.9 million riders last year and nearly 300 employees. About 78 Circulator employees have landed jobs with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), however, they will lose their seniority, and start at lower wages and different shifts.

Union reps have criticized transportation officials over the treatment of the circulator workforce.

READ MORE | Transit workers rally against DC Circulator shutdown, calls for Metro to take over

Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689, one of the unions that represents the workers says it will continue to fight to retain current pay rates. It claims circulator employees had five-year contracts, and job security through 2028. But the mayor abruptly cut Circulator funding from this year’s budget.

Both sides spoke at a recent council transportation committee hearing.

“This has been bungled from the start DDOT never reached out to have any conversations with us, and the mayor’s office appears to have lost my number. However, to address the DDOT director and the mayor directly, let me be clear, we did not want to be here today,” said Matthew Girardi, Political & Communications Director for ATU Local 689.

”Behind me sit anxious parents, brothers, sisters, daughters and sons who have only wanted to do their jobs to the best of their abilities and to provide decent lives to their families. Currently, because there is no plan, the median DC Circulator employee is slated to lose by our estimate $76,062,” Girardi added.

READ MORE | Metro wants to fill gap from impacted DC Circulator routes, extend overnight service

Starting today, Oct. 1, routes will also begin to see changes. ‘

Service to Rosslyn-Dupont Circle will end, altering bus arrival times everywhere else to every 20 minutes instead of every 10 minutes. Late-night service on the Woodley Park-Adams Morgan and Georgetown-Union Station routes are also ending.

”DDOT and WMATA have worked to leverage Metro bus’ extensive network to provide continued bus access for Circulator customers, enhance service to key destinations,” said Sharon Kershbaum, Director of the District Department of Transportation.

“Upon the termination of the Circulator service on December 31, WMATA will provide expanded and supplemental bus service on key alternative routes to address the gaps from the legacy Circulator routes,” Kershbaum said.

For the Rosslyn-Dupont Circle route, D.C. bus route 38-B will now provide extended service between Rosslyn and Farragut Square during peak weekend hours. Metro bus routes 31 and 33 will be merged into a single route along H and I streets Northwest to Union Station.