The company operating Pasadena Transit, the city’s bus service, fired a driver last week after he asked workers with the company three times to adjust the mirrors on his bus.
According to his termination letter, Margarito Ayala, 32, was dismissed because he summoned a maintenance worker three times in November to adjust the driver’s side rear-view mirrors on his bus.
In the Nov. 20 letter, the company, First Transit, said Ayala’s requests caused a slowdown in service.
The letter was signed by Charolett Robinson, the assistant general manager for the Cincinnati-based bus company that Pasadena contracts with to run its daily transit service on fixed routes for 75 cents a ride.
“They even put it in the write up when they terminated him,” said Eric Tate, secretary-treasurer for Teamsters Local 848. “He said he needed his mirrors adjusted. They adjusted them. Then they terminated him.”
First Transit spokesman Jay Brock refused to give details on Ayala’s firing.
“We have an internal personnel issue going on. Because it is a personnel matter, we won’t be able to go into any detail,” he said.
Robinson and First Transit General Manager Leticia Ochoa did not return calls for comment.
Ayala filed a grievance, which trigger a hearing with Ochoa and his union representative. That meeting will take place soon, Tate said.
If unsatisfied, Ayala could take the matter to arbitration. The union is asking that Ayala be reinstated at the same salary and made whole for any lost wages, Tate said.
Tate said he had never heard of a bus operator being fired for trying to drive safely. “No, I’ve never seen it before,” he said. “This is a first.”
First Transit also said in its termination letter to Ayala that he was “instigating” others and “taking part in an unlawful work stoppage or slowdown.” Tate and Ayala deny these allegations and said there was no work slowdown and that he never walked off his job.
Ayala had been suspended for physically moving the mirrors himself, something he said other bus operators do regularly.
“I’m not a tall person and when I get in the driver’s seat after another driver has driven a bus, the driver’s side rear-view mirror is usually adjusted too high to see traffic,” Ayala said.
Ayalya said First Transit told him a few years ago that he must ask a maintenance worker to meet him in the field or at whatever stop where he begins his shift to adjust the mirrors. Therefore, Tate said Ayala was fired for obeying the company’s own directive.
Ayala said the company often trained drivers about safe operation techniques and emphasized safety as a priority.
“Margarito’s case is evidence that they talk a good line about safety, but don’t practice what they preach,” said Gordon Ament, the union’s business representative, in a written statement.
On Nov. 9, Ayala called for maintenance when he began his shift in the field, saying he needed the mirror’s metal housing to be straightened and turned in.
“I needed to be able to see the full lane beside me so I wouldn’t hit anything,” he said.
But a maintenance worker gave him a hard time and said he should just use the inside buttons that move the glass only. He said because he is not tall, he’s 5 feet, 8 inches, and sits low in the seat, the dashboard mirror controls are not enough.
The next day, a mechanic came to his bus route and quickly moved the mirror to his liking. Twice the delays were minimal, less than 10 minutes, he said, and the last time he was on his break when the mechanic adjusted the mirrors, so no time was lost.
On the following Monday, he was called into the office and put on administrative leave. A week later he was terminated.
Ayala said he is a stickler for safety. He’s driven a Pasadena Transit bus — formerly Pasadena ARTS — for five years and never had an accident. “I want (Pasadena) First Transit to live up to what they tell us every day, to live up to their standards,” he said.
The Lynwood resident said his wife is in school and he must dip into his savings to pay the rent. “And the holidays are coming,” he said.
