Milwaukee County Transit System drivers, stalled on a new union contract, plan to strike at 3 a.m. tomorrow. One of their points of contention is that they don’t get enough time for bathroom breaks, and some have even resorted to wearing adults diapers. Presumably this is so they can utilize those diapers and continue driving. The imagination reels. JS reporter Don Behm included these odorous details near the end of his story today on the vote to strike.
Apparently at the “turnaround” point of a route, drivers have just four minutes to empty the bus, make it to a McDonald’s, or a laundromat, or Colectivo, and empty their bladders. Or colons.
Seattle drivers started running into similar problems in 2014 when their turnaround times shrank to “five minutes or less,” according to Crosscut. Their contracts called for 15-minute breaks (during any shift exceeding five hours), but drivers running behind schedule due to traffic or other factors often chose to forgo these stops. Reportedly, the transit system was replacing up to 60 urine-soaking drivers’ seats a year. Other drivers carried a jar or did the “potty dance” in their seats.
The Washington Department of Labor and Industries ultimately ordered the system to allow drivers better access to bathrooms.
