An unspecified number of laid-off Vitran workers could be called back to work following Gov. Charles Turnbull’s signature of a wide-ranging bill last weekend.
Among other things, Bill 23-0165 appropriated $600,000 for Vitran from the Indirect Cost Fund prior to the layoff of half the Vitran work force as of May 11. In signing the bill, Gov. Charles Turnbull said the layoffs were made "for lack of funds to continue operations after amassing a $12 million deficit."
Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson Jr., who oversees Vitran, said the appropriation is "good news."
"The additional money will help get Vitran back and improve operations," he said. "I’m optimistic that there would be at least a few call backs."
Thompson, however, stopped short of saying how many of the 62 laid-off workers would go back to work, saying that Vitran management is "committed" to working within its means.
Administration officials have said the layoffs and cuts in service were needed because fare box revenues could not cover salaries, benefits, parts, fuel and other expenses of operating the public transit service. Vitran is approximately $12 million in the red despite V.I. government subsidies of $1.8 million per district.
Meanwhile, Turnbull vetoed a section of Bill 23-0165 that aimed to establish a Public Transportation Enabling Fund with the same funding sources as the existing Public Transportation Fund, which made it "duplicitous," he said.