![]() Alex is CEO of the Regional Transit Authority of New Orleans, LA, one of the most storied cities in America.Īlex has a long and storied career himself, working in many great transit systems. Thanks for being with us today on another edition of the world's leading transit executive interview podcast. And today, we've got a great interview for you with Alex Wiggins. RTA said this morning that operators will receive their Hurricane Pay on September 17, but refused to comment on personnel matters.Welcome to Transit Unplugged. Jefferson said this is because some administrators claimed some of the rooms for themselves, leaving some workers to sleep in their cars or in the garage. Of the 100 operators called into work, thirteen were left without rooms inside the Hyatt Centric in the French Quarter. The RTA gave accommodations for the operators who were called in, but not all were given hotel rooms. Workers came together during the storm, Jefferson added, babysitting each other's kids and finding housing for each other so they could work twelve-hour shifts they agreed upon with the RTA. We went to the retirement homes, we went and cared for our people," said Jefferson at the rally. "We put our lives on hold so we could move those buses and go to the nursing homes. Jefferson, who is president of a nearly 500-member chapter, said her members answered the call when Mayor LaToya Cantrell requested 100 RTA operators for various uses when the power grid failed. Bus drivers for the company begin making $15 to $17 while training. Wiggins, a New Orleans native, earns a salary of $225,000 a year from RTA. Wiggins was also placed on administrative leave from his 2013 role at a Chicago commuter train service until he resigned three months later. The report detailed that Wiggins engaged in abusive and demeaning behavior. In 2019, shortly before the RTA board selected Wiggins, a report was released by the Los Angeles County Counsel's Office that Wiggins had multiple complaints against him during his role of Chief of Security at LA Metro. Howard accused Wiggins of running a hostile work environment based on retaliation, something Wiggins has been charged with before. "Every meeting we have, she prays before the meeting." "Everybody who knows Val knows she doesn't curse," Howard said. The official reason for her termination, according to Jefferson, was that she threatened Wiggins, but when International Vice President of ATU, Curtis Howard, spoke to Wiggins, he found it difficult to believe. ![]() Jefferson said she went to Thomas Stringer, the RTA's Chief Operating Officer, when the extra wages were not included in the payroll, but Wiggins had also fired Stringer. ![]()
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