LA Metro warns of bus delays due to drivers' 'sick out'
LA Metro said it understands bus drivers' "fear in the face of senseless assaults" Friday as it announced several delays due to a 'sick out' staged by drivers over violent attacks in recent weeks.
The transit system first announced possible delays on six bus lines just after 5 a.m. But that number grew throughout the day, and at 10:15 a.m., it said "significant delays" were affecting 16 routes. Since the number of lines delayed could vary over Friday, riders should continue checking on alerts about new changes or cancelations. In a statement, LA Metro acknowledged a possible strike of sorts, with drivers intentionally calling out sick Friday to draw attention to the need for safer working conditions.
Drivers and passengers have faced a troubling series of violent attacks aboard Metro buses and trains in the last few months. In March, the union representing LA Metro workers, SMART, demanded immediate action by the transit system after a man hijacked a bus with a fake gun and caused it to crash into The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The union described the incident as "unacceptable" and held LA Metro responsible for changes such as bullet-proof glass shields protecting drivers.
However, since that time, more violence has followed. In April, a man punched a Metro driver in the face and stabbed him in the chest near South LA, leaving him hospitalized with serious injuries. A few days later, another driver was attacked in Santa Monica.
On Friday, LA Metro said bus drivers are the "lifeblood" of its organization. But the transit system urged them to still go to work and "to reconsider the impact their plan to call in sick will have on some of the most vulnerable people in the county."
"Transit operators who intentionally plan to call in sick put our customers at risk," Metro said in a statement, adding that such an action by drivers would be a violation of their collective bargaining agreement with the transit system.
The transit operators' union SMART has not made a public statement about a possible strike Friday. A representative of the organization of the union has been reached for comment.
On March 25, the union released a statement demanding changes including armed security officers on buses, felony-level charges for those who assault drivers and transit workers, silent alarms to alert police of live shooters, emergency exits for drivers and cashless fare payments so the driver doesn't have to collect payment from passengers.
That list of demands came five days after the hijacking of a bus in downtown LA. The driver in the incident is a member of SMART, and the union said he was forced to ignore traffic lights and oncoming vehicles just before crashing the bus. He had been threatened with a gun that turned out to be fake.
"Our members are on the ground getting guns in their faces and putting their lives on the line," the union's president, Jeremy Ferguson, said in the statement. "The time to 'plan' has long passed. We know what these professionals need, and that list is publicly available to the FTA and every bus and transit agency CEO and board. Employers must act now to protect their workers."
Metro has said it will install barriers to protect drivers, and on April 29, its board of directors approved an emergency declaration to install them on about 2,000 buses due to the "sudden, unexpected increased severity of assaults on operators." It's not clear when all the barriers will be installed, and they will be shatter-proof but not bullet-proof.
In its statement Friday, LA Metro said it shares the "frustration" of drivers and said broader social issues are to blame for the attacks. The transit system said it is also working to hire security officers to board buses.
"We understand their and their families' fear in the face of the senseless assaults some have experienced primarily resulting from the twin crises of untreated mental illness and drug addiction," the statement reads.