President Joe Biden's American Jobs Plan calls for a major investment in EVs and electrified transit, with a focus on what a senior administration official described as "infrastructure for the future." But the labor groups said as public transportation agencies forge ahead with plans to electrify their vehicles, transit workers, including operators and mechanics, are not being prepared to transition to an electric future away from traditional diesel-powered vehicles.

In an interview, ATU International President John Costa said only about 3% of the group's membership is trained on the technology and how to maintain it safely, even as agencies increasingly turn to EVs. The differences between traditional vehicles and EVs include the different personal protective equipment required to maintain them, the use of rubberized tools, and the difference in motors. Operators must also be retrained, as a new style of driving is required to reduce strain on the battery from braking, he said.

Costa said while electrification's aim to reduce emissions is noble, agencies cannot rely on vehicle suppliers to train operators in the new equipment, and if there is no training on offer, workers risk their existing skills becoming obsolete.

"This is all good technology," he said. "This is all good stuff. But at the same time, we don't want to lose workers over this. We want to create more jobs for people to have good paying jobs."

TWU International President John Samuelsen sounded a similar warning, saying in an interview that in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania alone, 10,000 mechanic jobs could be under threat with the move to electrification because electric motors require less maintenance. Those workers should be protected with roles elsewhere or training in other areas, he said.

Read the full article about retraining transit workers by Chris Teale at Smart Cities Dive.