Demetrios Vatistas, secretary and treasurer for SMART Transportation Division Local 281 (Milwaukee, Wis.), discussed working as a Metra conductor during the coronavirus pandemic with a Chicago-area newspaper.
Vatistas has been S&T for his local since February 2019 and a TD member since 1997.
“I’ve been doing this for 24 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Vatistas told Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, Ill., reporter Marni Pyke. “It is extremely weird. We’re so used to working hand-in-hand, side-by-side. This is our family away from home.”
But there is a sense of anxiety when reporting for and performing service these days, especially when boarding what can only be described as ghost trains, Vatistas said.
Metra ridership has fallen a staggering 97% since a stay-at-home order was enacted by Illinois’ governor in March, but Vatistas said that new bonds are being formed, albeit at a safe social distance.
“I see concern, but I also see compassion,” Vatistas told Pyke.
Read the full story from the Daily Herald.
Related News
- Online fundraiser established for Local 821 officer’s family
- Ground broken on Brightline West — new rail jobs incoming!
- After FRA rule, Jared Cassity explains why we still need the Rail Safety Act
- ALERT for L.A.-area members — operator stabbing suspect at large
- SMART-TD wins SEPTA members’ security in their chosen craft
- Shining brightly in the midst of darkness
- Early-bird pricing for TD National Training Seminar ends April 30
- SMART-TD endorses U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R-Indiana) as the next governor of the Hoosier State!
- FTA action on bus, transit safety plans praised by SMART-TD
- 27 transit members reinstated back to work in Montebello, California