CHICAGO (CBS) ― It turns out CTA bus drivers are the third highest paid in the country.
The news comes after the Chicago Transit Authority made massive service cuts and laid off more than 1,000 workers last month.
John Hilkevitch reported in the Chicago Tribune Monday morning that the top pay rate for CTA bus drivers is $28.64 per hour. The only cities that pay more are Boston, where the highest pay for Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority drivers is $30.18 per hour, and San Jose, Calif., where the highest pay with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority is $28.86.
Despite the cuts and layoffs at the CTA, the bus drivers are defending their salary.
They say they deserve the money because they get verbally and physically attacked by customers every day.
Co-host Terry Savage of CBS 2′s Monsters & Money in the Morning said there are many factors to justify the pay rate for bus drivers, particularly since traffic in Chicago is far worse than in San Jose and likely Boston.
In addition, Savage said: “The labor contract doesn’t come up for renegotiation until 2012, so there’s not much leverage management has over the CTA. But then, somebody’s got to make the most money. We want good, safe bus drivers; well-incented bus drivers. We also need to make sure that people can get onto those buses and there are enough of them.”
Some bus drivers still had complaints when the CTA cuts took effect at the beginning of February. Complaints arose that some areas of the city have been neglected because of the service cuts.
CTA employees complained that drivers are not only being shifted from the South Side to the North Side, but forced to work overtime to compensate for the lack of drivers.
CTA bus drivers and train operators are represented by two Amalgamated Transit Union locals.
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Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.