Community members began a sit-in at the President’s Office inside Healy Hall at 9:15 a.m. demanding that the university administration maintain Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle (GUTS) drivers’ current positions as university employees.
Approximately 20 students and two GUTS drivers were in attendance and the protest is scheduled to continue until 5 p.m.
Before the beginning of the school year, the university informed GUTS drivers that they were planning to terminate their existing contracts and outsource GUTS’ operations to third-party company, Abe’s Transportation.
This sit-in is the latest in a series of events hosted by community members to protest this change and will include a press conference, GUTS driver speeches, and letter writing to the drivers. Georgetown University Student Coalition Against Repression alongside the Georgetown University Coalition for Workers (GCWR) announced the sit-in in an Instagram post at around 9 a.m.
“We demand a written commitment from David Green’s office that the University maintains the current positions of all GUTS drivers as directly employed drivers of the University, terminates the current outsourcing proposal with Abe’s Transportation, and fill all subsequent department vacancies with directly hired unionized employees in perpetuity,” the announcement read.
The chants and social media announcement directed demands to Georgetown University’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer David Green, who oversees the university’s major operational functions, including the GUTS bus system.
Georgetown University did not immediately respond to the Voice’s request for comment.
The sit-in began with chants in support of university workers’ demands, with mention of multiple Georgetown worker groups, including GUTS drivers, the Georgetown Resident Assistant Coalition, and graduate assistants.
The sit-in organizers handed out masks, informational brochures, buttons, and a chant and song list to attendees.
At 9:20 a.m., community members held a press conference with two GUTS drivers, who detailed their experience finding out about the university’s outsourcing of their employment.
“The union came to talk to us and say that they want to get rid of us, so they’re going to have to go back to talk to the university,” a GUTS driver said. “Ever since then—four months ago—they haven’t made no communication at all.”
According to an anonymous GUTS driver, as contractors, GUTS drivers will lose Georgetown employee benefits, including health insurance, retirement savings, and tuition assistance.
GUTS drivers said that the move to subcontracting will affect their daily operations and worker benefits.
“We’re at a loss,” a GUTS driver said. “Some drivers who have been here for more than 15 or 20 years, get no retirement. So we tend to lose more than gain. And that goes to the university benefits too, and health.”
One driver told the Voice that they worry that bringing in a third-party transit company will harm the sense of community among GUTS drivers and the university at large. GUTS drivers, he said, are part of weddings, traffic control, move-ins, and graduation in addition to the regular bus routes.
“We are family. We have a lot invested,” the driver said. “Most of us, we thought we was going to retire as a Georgetown associate. This is blindsidedness. We were not ready.”
This story is developing and will be updated as the event continues.
