John Matthews
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON — (WMAL) This might be a first.

Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld has called a meeting with all 650 of the transit system’s managers today, a move that he believes is the first of its kind in WMATA’s history.

The purpose – to remind those managers that safety comes first, and that ultimately they will be held accountable for their actions.

Easier said than done?

“How far he’ll get with managers who’ve been there for decades is the big question,” says Chris Barnes with the advocacy group Fix WMATA. “Some of these folks clearly need to go, and it sounds like he’s giving them as many chances as he can before he finally has enough with them.”

Barnes says there is clearly plenty of deadwood within the Metro system, and that riders really do want heads to roll as a sign of positive change.

“So far, he’s not fired anyone, says Barnes. “The question is… will he? He can say he’s going to to do it if he has to all day long, but until he actually does it, riders won’t believe him and if riders aren’t believing him, you have to think that the folks working there don’t believe him,” he adds.

Wiedefeld said Monday he wants his managers to develop a “safety first” mindset, and to make on-the-spot decisions as needed. Last Thursday’s early morning fire and explosion at the Federal Center SW occurred some ten hours before it was finally brought to Wiedefeld’s attention. He ordered an immediate shutdown of the station, followed by an all-night repair job to replace all of the porcelain insulators in the station.

“It shouldn’t have taken all day for something dangerous to get to someone before they finally took action,” says Barnes. “You have to wonder how many managers that went through before it got to Wiedefeld.”

If the new general manager is going to make progress with personnel, it will have to start with managing his managers. They are at-will employees, who can be dismissed with little consequence. The same can not be said for Metro’s rank and file.

“The front line employees are union members, so to go down that road, you’re going to start a battle with ATU Local 689, who [Wiedefeld} is about to get into a battle over a very important labor agreement with. So maybe he’s picking his battles at the moment – or maybe he’s hoping the change in attitude will flow down from the managers.”

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