MARTA Audit Likely to Lead to Tough Negotiations With Employee Union
A MARTA-commissioned audit shows the transit agency is spending too much on employee benefits. It will likely set up a tough round of contract negotiations with MARTA’s employee union.
In recent years, MARTA has cut hundreds of positions, laid off workers, and frozen wages – wages already among the lowest for transit workers in the country.
Still, the agency is more than $30 million in the red and the audit shows MARTA is paying nearly 20% above the national average for its employee health benefits.
MARTA’s current three-year contract with its unionized employees is set to expire in June.
In acting on the audit findings, Robin Howard, assistant general manager of MARTA auditing, says the MARTA board has its work cut out for it.
“The biggest challenges would be some union-related issues and some federal laws that would prevent us from going after the benefits the way we’d like to.”
In addition to health benefits, the audit recommends MARTA terminate pensions and move to an employee contribution plan.
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 732, which represents about two-thirds of MARTA employees, could not be reached for comment for this story.
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