Union representing MARTA says it was kept in the dark about outsourcing jobs

ATLANTA — MARTA employees say their jobs are being threatened.

MARTA hired a third-party contractor to shuffle passengers to and from the airport while the station there is being renovated.

Channel 2 Investigative reporter Ashli Lincoln spoke exclusively with the Union representing MARTA.

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The Union said leaders who are working in the building kept them in the dark about hiring non-MARTA employees to do a job that the Union says MARTA workers are more than capable of doing.

“It’s times that we do shut down, we normally use our internal employees, not contractors,” said Local Union president Britt Dunams. “MARTA has a pattern and one of the patterns is that they like to procrastinate”

Dunams said MARTA violated its contract with the Union by hiring outside vendors to provide transportation for airport passengers.

“And a lot of employees don’t feel trust,” said Dunams.

Dunams said the Union was kept in the dark about the move and only discovered it through word of mouth.

“We are the exclusive barging group for the MARTA employees,” said Dunams. “Anything that’s going to be changing of our working conditions, and as well our contract.”

Next week, MARTA will be closing its rail station at the airport while it undergoes renovation.

This means the last stop for airport passengers and employees will be the College Park Station, and from there, shuttles will be provided to take passengers to and from the airport.

The Union said MARTA’s decision to exclude the Union is a threat to employee job security.

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“What kind of threat does this pose? Well how we look at it, it’s going to be an erosion of jobs,” said Dunams. “No increase in wages, the benefits are lost and even including our pension.”

MARTA denied allegations that it excluded the Union and opted to hire an outside vendor to address manpower challenges.

“It’s a threat to our ability to negotiate in collective bargaining,” said Dunams.

MARTA said one of its biggest issues impacting its day-to-day operations involved consistent absenteeism on the job.

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