FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
GARY WATSON, President
Teamsters Union Local 533
(775) 348-6060 ext. 104
RENO,
Nev. (12-7-2020) — Reno City Councilmember Neoma Jardon
has gotten divorced — from reality.
At last Wednesday's council
meeting, Jardon, who chairs the Regional Transportation Commission
of Washoe County, asserted that the local transit system, for which
she is responsible, forces passengers and drivers to wear masks.
Perhaps
Keolis' base motivation is the most obvious: Do anything that
keeps ridership up, which protects their contracts. This is
on point:
Public Transit Faces Big Cuts and Little Help
The New York Times front page 12-7-2020
|
If that's not the case,
“that’s a problem for me,” responded Councilmember
Devon Reese.
"Has Chair Jardon
ever boarded a bus? Nothing could be further from the truth,"
stated Teamsters Local 533 President Gary Watson.
"Our transit system
has created an epidemic of denial during a deadly pandemic,"
Watson asserted.
"More than two dozen drivers plus some support workers have
contracted COVID-19. Social distancing is a thing of the past. Some
buses pack passengers like sardines at peak hours but the foreign-owned
management contractor will not dispatch additional vehicles to relieve
overcrowding.
"Everyone else is running at 25 percent capacity. Why not the
transit system? With masks. This has to stop," the longtime
union leader demanded.
"Transit authorities still refuse to provide accurate information
despite contractual obligations and federal orders," he added.
The Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County consists
of five elected officials from the Washoe
County Commission and the Sparks and Reno city councils. For decades,
RTC has subcontracted management of the transit system to for-profit
contractors. The current management company is Keolis Transit
America, a subsidiary of multi-national for-profit Keolis Transit.
"Our patience with Keolis evaporated when we learned that a
passenger was refused boarding because his pants were down but maskless
passengers were allowed on the bus," Watson said.
"An epidemic of barefaced passengers rides every day, some
on dangerously overcrowded buses. One rider even spit at a driver.
Bus system management has tried to have it both ways, posting signs
that masks are ineffective and others stating masks are mandatory,
all the while threatening drivers with firing if they try to enforce
Gov. Sisolak's legal orders," Watson added.
"Keolis has even
perverted the Americans With Disabilities Act in order to proceed
under the fictitious and feckless assumption that everyone without
a mask is somehow disabled and can't wear one," the longtime
union leader stated.
"This is not Russia — and this conduct is bad for
tourism and economic development," Watson declared.
"This unfortunate situation has been festering for decades
and the Teamsters have consistently warned that this would happen,"
Watson said.
"RTC has two levels of bureaucracy on top of the foreign subcontractor,
so whenever there's a problem, elected officials and system administrators
can blame the non-Nevadans and walk away. Giving control to foreign
companies provides local elected officials with plausible deniability
no matter what happens," Watson asserted.
"Over the years, it's only cost untold millions in tax dollars.
Now, it's costing lives. RTC has spent advertising money promoting
the fiction that they are following Gov. Sisolak's mask mandate
when they are doing no such thing. Ms. Jardon apparently believes
TV commercials," he added.
"Bus passengers are often among the most vulnerable in our
society, the young, the elderly, the disabled, minorities —
and people going to get tested for the virus," Watson said.
"This 'no mask required policy' clearly has a disparate impact
on low income families and disproportionately on people of color,"
stated Reno-Sparks NAACP
President Lonnie Feemster.
Noting that Keolis enforces mask-wearing in Europe, Nevada Lt.
Governor Kate Marshall recently asked "why can't they keep
passengers and drivers safe in Nevada?"
Last June, Washoe County health officer Kevin
Dick advised people to walk away from businesses not practicing
proper safety procedures.
"Over the past seven months, we have filed multiple charges
of illegal unfair labor practices with the National
Labor Relations Board. We have gone to U.S.
District Court where expensive union-busting Keolis lawyers
have employed every trick in the book to delay action to protect
passengers and workers," Watson noted.
"We have beseeched all levels of government, including law
enforcement, to help. Without exception, each and every one has
passed the buck. Perhaps now that the election season is over and
more people are getting sick and dying, something will change,"
Watson added.
The union has called for free ongoing testing for drivers and support
staff as well as using RTC security to enforce the governor's mandate.
System managers told KTVN TV-2
in September that they will not use their standing security force
to enforce the governor's orders but instead rely on local police.
However, both the Washoe County Sheriff and Reno Police
Department have served notice that they will not aid the safety
of the bus system.
"Regional Transportation
Commission Executive Director Bill Thomas has appeared
on paid advertising asserting that the governor's mandate is being
enforced. But his managers are telling our drivers that anyone without
a mask must be allowed to board or they risk disciplinary action,"
Watson noted.
The bus system has now become a rolling superspreader, a major contributor
to Washoe County's spiraling infection rates.
"We need the strongest enforcement in the state because 20,000
passengers a day are being exposed due to the intransigence of transit
managers and indifference of our political leaders," Watson
said.
"Show me a local bar that serves 20,000 people a day,"
Watson asked.
Drivers are under constant threat of discipline or firing for refusing
to board maskless passengers.
In Los Angeles, a
Keolis driver in treatment for breast cancer was fired for demanding
that a passenger put on a mask and for complaining about the
company’s failure to outfit buses with plastic partitions or
to supply drivers with adequate personal protective equipment (PPE).
Keolis
has refused to reinstate her or modify policies. At last report,
at least thirteen Foothill Transit operators had become infected
with COVID-19.
"Maybe we should re-name the disease KEOLIS-19,"
Watson suggested.
The
Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County is comprised
of
Washoe County Commissioners Vaughn
Hartung (R) and Bob
Lucey (R); Reno City Councilmembers Neoma
Jardon (R) and Oscar
Delgado (D). The City of Sparks seat is now filled by Councillor
Kristopher Dahir
(R).
Mr. Delgado recently announced that he and his wife have tested
positive for COVID-19.
UPDATE:
Sparks Mayor Ed Lawson
replaced Mr. Dahir on Dec. 18, 2020.
Supporting photos and documents
have been posted at NevadaLabor.com.
Chartered in 1934, Teamsters
Local 533 represents about 2,200 workers in various trades
throughout northern Nevada and eastern California.
CWA
9413/AFL-CIO
-30-
Back
to NevadaLabor.com Teamsters 533 home page & war room
B-words
Part Deux — Keolis boss tries to baffle TV-4 with bull...durham
By
Miles Buergin / KRNV TV-4 / KRXI TV-11 / 12-7-2020
B-Words
Obtuse
Bus Boss' brain fade bungles boast of transit system's COVID-19
safety
By
Jeri Davis / This Is Reno 12-3-2020
American
Monster M*A*S*H: Suicide is painless
