Union, Met Council reach agreement on plan to bolster transit safety

An agreement was reached Wednesday between the union representing transit workers and the Metropolitan Council to work together on safety issues that have plagued Metro Transit in recent years.

"Everybody in this room has such a shared interest in safety," said Met Council Chair Charlie Zelle. "We have a ways to go, we know that."

About 50 members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1005, which represents Metro Transit bus drivers, light-rail operators and others, returned to the council's St. Paul headquarters after being denied a chance to speak about their safety concerns at a council meeting last week.

Days after that tense meeting, however, Metro Transit and union officials were able to craft a broad plan to address the safety issues for passengers and front-line workers on public transportation. Crime reports at Metro Transit surged 54% last year.

After the meeting, Ron Kammueller, ATU co-chair of the newly formed labor-management safety committee, said he was pleased. "This kind of give-and-take is new for this organization. It's a whole new look," he said.

The issue before the Met Council, which oversees Metro Transit, was approval of a safety plan required by the Federal Transit Administration — a key funder of big transportation projects in the Twin Cities and beyond.

The plan, more than 90 pages long, is highly bureaucratic. It outlines a safety strategy for Metro Transit bus and light-rail operations, addressing such topics as workplace safety, the proper handling of hazardous materials, and maintenance of equipment and facilities. The first such plan was adopted in 2020.

"This is an important component to our safety plan, but far from the only document to mitigate the risks on our transit system," said Lesley Kandaras, Metro Transit's interim general manager.

The plan approved Wednesday is different from a 40-point safety and security action plan adopted by the council last summer, which features more detailed steps to stem crime and nuisance behaviors on public transportation, such as smoking and drug use.

A last-minute addendum to Wednesday's plan that was pushed by the union calls for prompt and full investigations if transit workers are assaulted, as well as paid time off for recovery and psychological support.

The union called for sanitary standards for cleaning and disinfecting trains and buses, and the immediate removal of vehicles from service if they become exposed to bio hazards and narcotics. The union also wants to end discipline for workers who stop transit vehicles due to "fentanyl/chemical" exposure.

"The things that go on in those trains are disgusting," such as vomiting and drug use, said Kammueller, a maintenance supervisor for the Green Line.

At last week's Met Council meeting, members spent close to 90 minutes debating whether they could legally permit public comment. With dozens of union members in the room, the council opted to delay action for a week.

The federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law requires Metro Transit to form a safety committee of managers and workers to work on the plan. The group was supposed to submit a revised plan to the federal government by the end of 2022.

But the new committee got off to a rocky start, said Wes Kooistra, Metro Transit's former general manager, at a meeting of the council's Transportation Committee last month. Suggestions made by labor representatives apparently weren't included in the document approved by that committee.

Council Member Raymond Zeran, who represents the northern suburbs, said at the council meeting last week that the union's input was critical.

"It's their lives on the line, we need to respect them," said Zeran, political director for Local 292 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.