Monroe Dispatch - No Struggle, No Progress

A union representative of Amalgamated Transit Union 1160 told members of the Monroe City Council Tuesday(May 11) night, that it should not pay First Transit any more money to operate the city's transit system. Stanley Smalls speaking during the audience participation period following Tuesday night regular council meeting, said the city is paying First Transit in excess of $300,000, that could be best suited staying in the city. Smalls also addressed the issues that has plagued concerning the employees who operate/maintain the city's transit fleet. Smalls didn't name anyone in Monroe Transit Management, but the implication from years of employee issues ranging from suspensions to firing, seemed to center on who is currently managing Monroe Transit. "The problems that we had, are still here", said Smalls, "the members feel morally beaten". He mentioned a memo from February of this year, telling employees that they could spend two minutes inside the transit terminal building, because of alleged Covid-19 concerns. "How can an employee get themselves together in only two minutes? That is not enough time", said Smalls. There were other transit employees(and former) who allocated their time to Small to speak on their behalf, but Council President Doug Harvey told Smalls that he only had his 3 minute allotted time to speak. Small took his limited time to address Mayor Ellis, telling him to "give his employees their voice back", as it appeared that the city had curtail any labor/management talks. The issues between the city and the transit employees' union has only gotten worse over the years since First Transit took control over the transit system. Many employees and the union have placed the plight of their problems to the individual that First Transit put in charge of Monroe Transit. In numerous interviews/articles, The Dispatch was told that Marc Keenan as a general manager, made working on their jobs exceedingly difficult. Employees said that Keenan "had a blind eye" to what those in management did but took harsh measures against union employees. They believed that Keenan's mission was to "break the union", as he allegedly took punitive measures against anyone who tried to bring the union in to settle any disputes. The city "broke away" from First Transit years ago, but according to former employees, the company continued to "hang around" until a "friendly" city council entered into a contract with First Transit to take control of the transit system. Since that time, numerous transit employees have lost their jobs, charges of sexual harassment have been alleged and the union has been in an uphill battle to protect its members. Smalls was trying to tell Mayor Ellis and the city council that there are some serious problems that needs to be addressed. It appears that in the early months of Ellis' administration, relations were strained with the union. Changes that were instituted over the years by Keenan, has resulted in routes changes/eliminations, longer wait times and longer distances to walk to a bus stop. Many believe that transit services overall, has suffered. Smalls criticized the First Transit proposed contract telling the council meeting, that in addition to paying First Transit $300,000, there is also 5-years options in the 10-year contract. He said that he "doesn't understand" how the city can "give away" $300,000, plus $23,000 in "per diem" to Marc Keenan. Smalls says that "is a waste of money and that the city council were not good stewards of the city's funds".