Georgetown University will not move forward with a proposal to subcontract its shuttle drivers to a third-party vendor following three months of student advocacy against the proposed plan.

Donna Poillucci, assistant vice president of facilities and residential services, announced the planned agreement in a Dec. 16 email to drivers, saying any current Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle (GUTS) drivers may choose to retain direct university employment. The university’s initial proposal would have transferred GUTS drivers, many of whom have been directly employed by the university for decades, to Abe’s Transportation, a local transportation company, to work as subcontractors.

Under the new plan — which Poillucci said aims to take effect Jan. 31, 2026 — Abe’s Transportation will assume management of GUTS while the 18 current GUTS drivers will remain direct university employees, if they choose to.

Poillucci said the university is working with Abe’s Transportation to finalize the agreement details.

“The University is in discussion with Abe’s Transportation (vendor) to assign the GUTS shuttle program management, infrastructure, and equipment to the vendor while retaining any of the current eighteen GUTS drivers who wish to remain employees of the University in the capacity of GUTS drivers,” Poillucci wrote in the email. “At this time, I am writing to confirm that any current bus driver who wishes to remain a direct employee of the University in the capacity of a GUTS bus driver will continue with their current job duties as a Georgetown University employee driving for the selected University subcontracted vendor.”

Roy Linton, a GUTS driver of 14 years, said he and his colleagues are excited to remain Georgetown employees.

“All the drivers were happy when they read the email,” Linton told The Hoya. “We all think this is a very good Christmas present for us.”

“It was like a burden off me,” Linton added.

A university spokesperson said Dec. 2 that the university had been working to find a solution that would keep the drivers as direct employees.

“From those conversations the University heard that the areas most important to drivers included pay, benefits, seniority, holiday schedules, job security, vehicle safety, and the ability to remain GU employees,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “While the vast majority of these items were topics understood and reflected in the initial request for proposals for a third party managed transportation provider, in the time since receiving additional feedback, the University has worked to further explore transition options that may be feasible.”

“Based on feedback from our community, the University continues to work diligently on a contract structure that would provide our GUTS drivers the choice to remain as GUTS bus drivers employed by the University,” the spokesperson added.

Noel Tiongson, another GUTS driver, said the new agreement was a step in the right direction.

“I’m very thankful,” Tiongson told The Hoya. “Me and my wife were talking about celebrating — it’s a good reason to celebrate, because at least we got one of the main pillars of our existence pretty much solid.”

The Hoya first reported the university’s proposed plan in September, which would reduce drivers’ health care, tuition and retirement benefits. Abe’s Transportation offered a $1 per hour salary increase, but drivers said the raise would not compensate for the less expansive benefits.

Following the announcement of the original proposed plan, Georgetown Coalition for Workers’ Rights (GCWR), a student group advocating for campus labor issues, has led a series of protests calling on the university to reverse the proposal. 

On Sept. 24, following a student-led petition that garnered over 1,160 signatures, the university’s Chief Operating Officer David Green reaffirmed the university’s subcontracting plan, saying GUTS requires the “true expertise” of a dedicated transportation company.

In late October, the university’s Advisory Committee on Business Practices, which makes recommendations on the ethics of university labor decisions, unanimously voted to advise the Office of the President against the subcontracting plan. After the university did not publicly take a stance on the recommendation, Georgetown students occupied part of Healy Hall for a sit-in protest Dec. 2.

GCWR said in a press release that it remains committed to advocating for GUTS drivers and Georgetown workers.

“Let this campaign be a reminder of the importance of forming relationships with workers across departments, listening to the struggles of workers on this campus and engaging in joint struggle against injustice,” GCWR wrote in the press release. “This victory is a testament to the power of workers at Georgetown and the strength of community solidarity.”

Linton said he was grateful for the student advocacy.

“It was great work on the part of the students,” Linton said. “We were excited working with them.”

Throughout the campaign, drivers and students alleged the university was discarding its Jesuit values by prioritizing finances over the workers. The university cited a Washington, D.C. law mandating private bus fleets convert to 50% low-or-zero-emission buses by 2030 and 100% low-or-zero-emission buses by 2045. A university spokesperson previously said in September that not moving to a third-party vendor and remaining in compliance with the law would cost the university $60 million.

GCWR said the community members who participated in the campaign were key to its success.

“GCWR is immensely grateful to every individual who helped with this campaign in any way — whether you signed our petition, attended a rally or the sit-in, shared a social media post, sent emails to administrators, met with drivers or helped with logistics,” GCWR wrote. “Keep this energy up as we continue the fight for other Georgetown workers’ labor rights — this is an important victory in the fight for labor rights on campus, but the struggle doesn’t end here.”

Tiongson said he remains concerned that the university has not finalized the details of the partnership with Abe’s Transportation.

“They didn’t really specify how that can possibly work, where we’re direct employees of Georgetown University, and then we’re going to be under the management of a third-party contractor,” Tiongson said. “There seems to be an incredible disconnect there.”

Poillucci said in her email that the university would announce more details about “operational and administrative processes” in early January.

Linton said he is hopeful that the structure Poillucci outlined — in which Abe’s Transportation manages the GUTS service and infrastructure, while the university maintains employment — will be successful.

“I’m going to have to see how that is going to work, but I am confident that it will work out,” Linton said. “We always want everything to remain the same, but you got to move with changes, so at least we have won part of the battle.”

Linton said he is proud to be a Georgetown employee and continue his work as a GUTS driver.

“This is something that I like, and it’s family,” Linton said. “It makes you feel secure.”

This story was updated Dec. 18.