Bing gives unions 30 days to fix buses or he'll do "whatever it takes".

**getmoore** · October-20-11, 07:30 PM

Did anyone notice that the problem with the buses being slower than normal started when the mechanics stopped receiving overtime which took them from getting around a $100,000 per year back down to about $40,000 per year? DDOT hasn't been running things very well for years but it was never like this. The slowdown seems VERY intentional to me.

**kraig** · October-20-11, 07:56 PM

Originally Posted by getmoore

Did anyone notice that the problem with the buses being slower than normal started when the mechanics stopped receiving overtime which took them from getting around a $100,000 per year back down to about $40,000 per year? DDOT hasn't been running things very well for years but it was never like this. The slowdown seems VERY intentional to me.

It's not the mechanics, it's the management. From the moment Bing took office in 2009, he's been attacking the bus system. Don't forget he tried to shutdown service on Sundays and was trying to eliminate nighttime service altogether. Now he's trying to get that done by not providing the mechanics the parts needed to fix a bus or two or 200.

**Johnnny5** · October-20-11, 08:01 PM

Originally Posted by getmoore

Did anyone notice that the problem with the buses being slower than normal started when the mechanics stopped receiving overtime which took them from getting around a $100,000 per year back down to about $40,000 per year? DDOT hasn't been running things very well for years but it was never like this. The slowdown seems VERY intentional to me.

Perhaps the overtime hours were needed to keep up with the repairs of an aging fleet.. Or are you suggesting that they should work overtime for free or for less than 1.5x their hourly wage as they are guaranteed by law?

**getmoore** · October-21-11, 06:47 AM

Originally Posted by Johnnny5

Perhaps the overtime hours were needed to keep up with the repairs of an aging fleet.. Or are you suggesting that they should work overtime for free or for less than 1.5x their hourly wage as they are guaranteed by law?

It seems like that from the outside doesn't it. But from the inside......

muskie1 · October-21-11, 09:26 AM

I guess that if there is an intentional work slow down it is a major issue. I think that when contract time comes up an idea might be to pay the techs. like almost all repair shops do , by book time. You only make money when you fix something. You would also need to be efficent in doing your job because if a repair takes to long you make nothing extra.