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Atlanta DOT employees and airport drivers urge council to halt outsourcing, restore overtime and provide airport amenities
Summary
Employees and drivers told the Atlanta City Council Transportation Committee that overtime was cut, contractors are doing work city employees performed, and airport drivers lack basic amenities and clear permit guidance; union leaders asked the council for immediate meetings and action.
Council Member Byron Amos, chair of the Atlanta City Council Transportation Committee, heard extended public comment from transportation department employees, union representatives and airport drivers who said outsourcing, staffing gaps and lost overtime have harmed workers and operations.
Joe Banks, speaking as an employee of “ADOT,” asked whether the department “is going to exist in 2026” and raised questions about overtime cuts in his area. He urged the council to meet with employees in a forum outside the three‑minute public comment period to answer those questions.
Lisa Ramsey, who identified herself as representing the Dunliana Rideshare Drivers Union, said airport drivers have been promised two items after meetings with airport management: handwashing stations and a list of vehicles that qualify for an airport permit sticker. “I've yet to receive a response the list of cars or the handwashing stations,” Ramsey said, and warned drivers expect those two items by the end of the month before they escalate the issue.
Bupendra Chauhan, also with the Rideshare Drivers Union, said premium black‑car service providers lack a designated parking or staging lot at Hartsfield‑Jackson and that the current geofenced parking forces drivers into commercial lots where they are “regularly flushed out” by law enforcement. He also raised concerns about the lack of state‑level regulation for autonomous vehicles in Georgia.
Several Atlanta Department of Transportation (ATLDOT) employees said contractors are performing work that city staff could do if given more hours or hiring. D'Amico Sydney, identified as a traffic technician, told the committee city technicians are often “coming behind the contractors” to repair work done by outside firms. Marquis Scales said overtime had been taken away and asked where recently approved funds are being spent.
Gina Pagnotta, president of PACE, told the committee she had met with employees and that “the department decided to take that 2 and $3,000,000 to make payroll for contractors.” She urged that contractors be removed and jobs returned to city employees, saying the contractors “are milking the city.”
Council Member Amos acknowledged the concerns and said he will request that the transportation presentation at the next council cycle examine vacancy review board approvals, backfill and hiring, and compare contracted professional services to salary line items. Amos said those analyses would help explain why approved backfills are not appearing as filled positions. Because the session lacked a quorum, Amos asked attendees to continue the conversation in a separate meeting and noted the committee will handle official business at the next council meeting.
No formal committee action was taken at this session.
