A month after Georgetown University’s shuttle drivers won a protracted campaign to remain university employees, their union representatives are alleging an anticipated university policy change is retaliatory.

University administrators informed Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle (GUTS) drivers in a Jan. 21 private meeting that, beginning Feb. 1, they would have to pick up and drop off buses in Hyattsville, Md., rather than on Georgetown’s campus. In response, representatives from 1199SEIU, the union representing GUTS drivers, sent a letter to the university’s human resources department Jan. 23 saying they were “not in agreement” with the move.

The change comes after the university informed GUTS drivers in December they could remain university employees, following The Hoya’s initial reporting in September that the university aimed to shift drivers to a third-party vendor. Under the December plan, the vendor, Abe’s Transportation, would own and manage the equipment and vehicles while the drivers would remain university employees.

In the letter, Carrietta Hiers, vice president of 1199SEIU’s Washington, D.C. branch, said the change goes against the union’s wishes.

“The union is not in agreement with these proposed changes,” Hiers wrote in the letter. “We are hereby demanding an immediate cease and desist from all proposed actions that were discussed during the members only session. The proposed changes such as pick up and drop of buses in Hyattsville.”

A university spokesperson said the Hyattsville garage will improve the management of GUTS buses as the university transitions to the Abe’s Transportation partnership.

“The new bus depot will support vehicle maintenance, cleaning, fueling and electric charging,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “This facility represents a significant expansion of capacity and is designed to accommodate the evolving operational and sustainability needs of the university’s transportation system.”

Hiers said the union believes the university’s actions are meant to punish drivers for rejecting the efforts to switch to Abe’s Transportation.

“This is unacceptable and was not discussed with the union,” Hiers wrote. “We believe these actions to be in retaliation of the unwillingness to become ABE employees.”

The university spokesperson said the changes comply with the union agreement, rejecting claims of retaliation.

“Georgetown policies prohibit retaliation and harassment of any kind,” the spokesperson wrote. “The university is in full compliance with the collective bargaining agreement.”

GUTS drivers campaigned against the university’s initial proposal alongside the Georgetown Coalition for Workers’ Rights (GCWR), a student group advocating for labor issues on campus. The university ultimately decided to retain GUTS drivers as employees in December after months of student and worker advocacy, including a petition, protests and a sit-in.

Roy Linton, a GUTS driver of 14 years, said the proposed change to the Hyattsville bus depot felt contrary to the plan the university announced in December.

“Right away, that was a surprise for us, because we were told that we’re going to be Georgetown employees, and they’re going to keep us as employees, and nothing is going to change,” Linton told The Hoya. “So now for us to be leaving our houses to go somewhere else to pick up our buses, that’s a change. A lot of drivers were not up for that.”

When informing the drivers of the final plan in December, Donna Poillucci, assistant vice president of facilities and residential services, said GUTS drivers “will continue with their current job duties.”

Leyla Adali, a spokesperson for 1199SEIU, said Georgetown has violated its commitment to GUTS drivers.

“1199’s position is that this is an inconvenience and should not be required, and that ABE should not be able to unilaterally impose these changes on our workers,” Adali wrote to The Hoya. “GUTS drivers are employees of Georgetown University, not ABE, and as their employer, GU should protect them from this kind of capricious change.”

“The union is hoping for this policy to be reversed, and we are currently in communication with the university,” Adali added.

Elinor Clark (CAS ’27), GCWR’s facilities team lead, said the change goes against what Poillucci told drivers in December.

“GUTS drivers were told that the only thing that would be changing per the new agreement was the buses themselves, and the fact that they’re just now being told that they have to go and pick up the buses at Abe’s, they have to clock in, clock out at Abe’s, those are really frustrating job changes, and Georgetown was not really upfront about them,” Clark told The Hoya.

University officials in the chief operating officer’s office also met with members of the Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) on Jan. 23.

GUSA President Darius Wagner (CAS ’27), who attended the meeting, said the university must collaborate with GUTS drivers when developing policy.

“If we’re changing where workers are starting their day, we’re affecting their hours, their commute, the time they have with their family, the time to have their recreation, that is definitely concerning to me particularly,” Wagner told The Hoya. “We want to be ensured that the workers will have a say in something as big as changing the starting location of their job.”

Wagner also said the union’s cease-and-desist letter suggests the university has not been honest with drivers.

“If the university is trying to present the case that the Abe’s contract is fair, but falling back on the fact that they’re working with the unions — and the unions are saying that the university is not engaging and is actually retaliating — what is clear here is that the university is lying,” Wagner said. “It’s lying to the students that care about the GUTS bus workers, and it’s lying to the workers that keep our campus running.”

Linton said many drivers will have longer commute times as a result of the move to Hyattsville.

“This new location is going to be far for some drivers coming from Virginia,” Linton said. “For me personally, it’s an additional six miles of driving.”

“Some drivers who’re coming in from Virginia, it’s gonna be more for them,” Linton added.

At the Jan. 21 meeting, university officials also informed GUTS drivers that the new Abe’s Transportation buses would be diesel-run, rather than gasoline or electric. When justifying the transition to Abe’s Transportation, the university has cited a D.C. law requiring private bus fleets to be 50% low-or-zero-emission by 2030 and 75% low-or-zero-emission by 2035. 

The university spokesperson said the diesel buses are an interim solution before Abe’s Transportation acquires electric vehicles.

“Current production timelines for fully electric transit buses range from approximately 18 to 24 months; these buses will be incorporated into the fleet over the next several years,” the spokesperson wrote. “To ensure continuity of service during this interim period before the 2030 and 2035 deadlines, newer biodiesel-powered vehicles will be used to service Georgetown routes while we await delivery of electric vehicles.”

Clark said the university’s actions, in the context of the December decision, are disheartening for GUTS drivers. 

“Everybody was so hopeful when Georgetown agreed to keep them on as employees,” Clark said. “For Georgetown to continue their behavior of making changes, making decisions without telling the GUTS bus drivers is really frustrating.”

Linton said he felt betrayed by the university, highlighting the promises made in the university’s December plan.

“I’m really disappointed with the university,” Linton said. “‘There won’t be any change’ — that’s what we were told in December. ‘There’s not gonna be any change. You’re gonna remain Georgetown employees.’ Only thing was we’re going to be driving Abe’s buses. So they’re making changes, they’re just doing it in a sneaky way.”