ART Delays Continue as Strike Enters Fifth Day

Delays on several Arlington Transit bus routes are expected to continue today as a strike by drivers enters its fifth day.

The tension between the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3001 and Gainesville, Texas-based Forsythe Transportation, which operates Arlington County's bus system, has ratcheted up as the week has progressed.

On Thursday, representatives of each accused the other of refusing to work toward a resolution to the dispute. Meanwhile, riders already are frustrated by disruptions in service, feelings that seem to be exacerbated by what several called a lack of communication from Arlington County and the bus system.

"They haven't shown up. They're unreliable. I usually take 61B. Yesterday I took 61A, which dropped me off kind of close to where I live. I've been just taking the one that arrives. I'm not even sure if it's going to come today or not," Alan Thom, who has been riding ART for about a year, said Thursday outside Rosslyn Station.

Latoya Nichols, who has been riding buses for about five years, said she had noticed they were arriving late, but didn't know why. Andrea Carpenter said her husband's bus didn't show up for two days in a row this week before he found out about the strike. Others at Rosslyn Station complained about having to wait at different or out-of-the-way stops.

"The first day of the strike I was waiting to go home and was waiting for a good long while before I knew," Josh Halko said. "A big crowd of us were waiting and waiting before someone pulled out their phone and figured out the drivers were on strike. There has been no communication to us about what's going on."

Arlington County officials have suggested residents sign up for ART alerts through Twitter, Facebook or RSS feed to stay up-to-date about disruptions or delays. The biggest disruptions will be on Route 61, which circulates through neighborhoods north and south of the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.

Route 52, which runs through several North Arlington neighborhoods between Ballston and the East Falls Church station, and Route 62, which travels through neighborhoods along the Lee Highway corridor between Courthouse and Ballston, are also seeing reduced service.

“Each of those routes are running with one less bus, so the frequency of service was reduced,” said Stephen Del Giudice, Arlington County transit bureau chief. “Otherwise, we were running with full service on our routes, but we’re telling folks to expect delays, and that’s partly because the bus drivers were getting out a little late, or the bus drivers were less familiar with the routes.”

Forsythe Transportation, which employs the drivers and operates the bus service under contract with Arlington County, has had "qualified" management-level employees driving buses during the strike, and has been training drivers all week, CEO Bill Forsythe said.

Nearly 30 drivers headed for the picket line instead of work Monday morning to protest working conditions – including, they say, the denial of bathroom breaks – and multiple alleged instances of sexual harassment on the part of managers. Local 3001 Executive Director Charles Smith said some female employees had been directed to meet managers in hotel rooms for sexual favors. He would not say how many times that allegedly happened.

Several news outlets reported Monday the protesting workers had been fired. Forsythe told Patch that was never the case, that instead those employees had been suspended. Twenty-one remained under suspension Thursday, he said.

Forsythe said the Arlington Transit system was running at 93 percent by mid-week. He called the workers’ action a “wildcat strike,” one that is “illegal” and against the contract his company has with the Local 3001.

“We have repeatedly asked to meet with them. They have refused. They have repeatedly refused to contact our attorney. They claim to have evidence of sexual harassment. We have repeatedly asked for that so we can investigate it internally,” said Forsythe, who is in Arlington until the matter is resolved. “I find that difficult to give any credibility. But we’re still investigating … everything we can.”

Smith said the opposite was the case – that Forsythe Transportation was refusing to cooperate. He also said a female employee sent a letter about sexual harassment to the transportation company last year and received a response.

Forsythe said no such letter was received.

"Their attorney refuses to talk to the federal mediator, and Arlington County hasn’t done anything, either," Smith said. "This company is pretty dysfunctional. Their management personnel are pretty unsophisticated. I don’t think they know what to do. I don’t think they know what to say. I don’t think they know how to clean their house."

He continued: "I can’t understand how anybody in Arlington County can tolerate this. ... These are my tax dollars, too. I live in Arlington. It’s galling to me, as a taxpayer."

Forsythe and Arlington County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman said separately that they weren’t aware employees were upset until Saturday. Zimmerman issued a statement this week calling for the immediate resolution of the dispute. By contract, Forsythe is required to provide bus service for the county, Del Giudice said. The county compensates Forsythe for what it terms “revenue hours.”

In the fiscal year that begins July 1, the county is expected to pay Forsythe about $7 million for 100,000 revenue hours. That’s up slightly from a projected 95,000 revenue hours this year.

County board members met behind closed doors Tuesday night to discuss the contract with Forsythe, but no action has been taken.

“At this point, we are in the process of reviewing that contract,” Del Giudice said. “We have been discussing a number of provisions with the contractor. We’re looking at the renewal at this time.”