WAVE Transit employees push for higher pay amid rising cost of living
NEW HANOVER COUNTY, N.C. — Several WAVE Transit employees are pushing for higher wages, saying some workers are taking on second and third jobs to make ends meet as the cost of living rises.
Michael General, a WAVE Transit bus driver since 2017 and president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1328, said employees are struggling to keep up financially.
“What does it do to you when you work 60 to 70 hours every week? You work yourself sick,” General said.
General said that as New Hanover County has grown, employee pay has not kept pace with the cost of living.
“Some of us are rationing out our prescriptions because we can’t afford one or the other,” he said.
General and several other union members spoke during a Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority board meeting Thursday, calling for hourly wages to increase from $19 to $22.
“I don’t think we’re close to what we’re worth, so an increase right now with where we are, if you do the research, would be 9% more,” General said.
Another union member said she has worked for WAVE Transit for nearly 25 years and continues to advocate for higher wages.
“If you have been here for almost 25 years like I have and you can’t reach $30 an hour, that says a lot,” she said.
Another union member said she has worked for WAVE Transit for more than two decades and has repeatedly pushed for higher pay during contract negotiations.
“I’ve been advocating for this now for 18 years every time negotiations come around, and this is nothing new,” she said.
In a statement to WWAY, the Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority said it cannot comment on the negotiations.
“The Authority is not a party in the negotiations between the private management company and the transit union due to federal and state laws, so we cannot comment,” the statement said.
As negotiations continue, union members say they plan to keep advocating for higher wages.
“Everything we’ve had to say, I believe, is being taken into consideration, but the old saying goes, ‘A closed mouth don’t get fed.”
