Keolis, union find little common ground as transit strike nears 2-month mark

The contract offer includes 10% pay increases for all employees retroactive to July 2022, guaranteed 4% raises in each of the next two years. In the final year of the contract, local-route drivers with at least four years of employment will make $36 an hour; commuter-bus drivers will make $40. The company will also pay 80% of health insurance premiums for family plans and match 401(k) contributions up to 5%.

The terms of that contract offer stand for any employee who wants to work now – even without a collective bargaining agreement in place – according to Keolis Vice President Mike Ake. “We are taking the offer we proposed, and we are going ahead and instituting that offer for anyone who wants to work,” he said during a March 8 press briefing. That action is possible, he said, because negotiations are now at an “impasse,” a technical term defined in labor law, citing the union’s failure to take action on the company’s “last, best and final offer” and the union’s characterization of some demands as “non-negotiable.”

But the union says Keolis is still a long way from meeting its basic demands, although the workers are still willing to negotiate.

There is no point in putting a contract offer to a vote if most workers have signed a petition outlining their blanket opposition to the offer, according to Local 689 spokesperson Matthew Girardi, but he adamantly disagreed that an “impasse” now exists. “We are still at the same place we were at before,” he told the Times-Mirror March 8. “... We are willing to negotiate in good faith.”

The union remains firm that any contract offer should include company-paid 401(k) contributions without a required match from the employee. “We’re just having so many members who are working overtime and working second jobs to try to get by, so for them to take a portion out of their paychecks, that is just not an option for them,” according to Girardi.

And the union’s demand that all bus drivers should be on the same pay scale – regardless of whether they drive a local route or drive a commuter bus into the city – remains firm, he added. “If they were to put [commuter-bus] pay scale into their entire contract they would have some legs to stand on.”

The union has also disputed Keolis’ characterization of the contract offer. “Right off the bat, that’s just not true that they would be the highest-paid in Northern Virginia,” Girardi said. He pointed to transit systems in Fairfax and Alexandria where the pay scale tops out at more than $1 above Keolis’ offer for local-route drivers in the first year of the contract. (In response, a statement from Keolis noted that the Loudoun pay scale would exceed that of other systems by the third year of the contract.)

The dispute goes beyond regular wages, however. Both sides adamantly disagree about the health insurance plans offered by Keolis as well. “Frankly, we would like for them to shop around ... And look for other plans,” Girardi said, noting that union members “don’t like the plan[s].”

Keolis offers four plans through UnitedHealthcare third-party administrator UMR, including PPOs, an EPO and a high-deductible plan. Some union members claim that those plans are not robust enough. Countering those claims, Ake said that “it’s the exact same plan I’m on. The only difference is, I actually pay more for it than our employees do,” noting that he pays 25% of premiums, as do most employees of transit companies in the United States. Paying 80% of employees’ premiums was a significant concession on Keolis’ part, he said.

A later statement from the company said that “Keolis is constantly evaluating its benefits packages to find the highest quality plan at the best possible value for its employees.”

The union has also expressed concern that provisions in the proposed contract doesn’t put enough restrictions on the company’s bus-mounted security-camera footage, which could potentially lead to employees being disciplined for past infractions. The company maintains that this footage is only used for training and safety purposes.

Ake said that he hopes more striking employees will return to work in the coming days and that a final bargaining agreement can be reached soon. “The workers absolutely have a right to strike if they want or to work if they want,” he said, asking employees to consider returning not only for their own sake, but for the sake of the Loudoun County residents who rely on bus services.

But the company and the union even disagree about how many workers have crossed the picket line. The company puts that number at 84 as of March 7. The union says it’s about 30 – Keolis’ figure “seems way out of any kind of estimation that we have,” Girardi said.

A statement from Keolis said, “Accurate recordkeeping is a contractual obligation, necessary for delivery of service for our passengers, and essential for running benefits and payroll. We know who comes in to work and we stand by our figures.”

Service updates Even as the labor action continues, Loudoun County Transit local-route buses and paratransit services are generally operational, according to Keolis North America, the private company contracted to provide bus services for the county. Some commuter bus service is still unavailable due to lack of staffing, however. Daily updates about service availability are available at loudoun.gov/buschanges.

Local 689 petition Seventy-nine transit workers represented by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 signed a petition with the following text in response to Keolis North America’s Feb. 24 contract offer: “We refuse to accept a contract that does not meet our basic demands that include but are not limited to: adequate health insurance, guaranteed retirement contributions by Keolis, fair and judicious use of drive cameras to monitor our work, wage parity with our peers throughout the Washington Metropolitan Area, a single wage scale for all CDL permit holding drivers, vacation allotments, and a guaranteed 40 hour work week for all CDL permit holders. Any contract not containing these provisions is unacceptable.”