Metro Board Recognizes Two South Bay Bus Operators, Each with 50 Years of Service
Metro Bus Operators Donald Dube and Jack Bailey were recognized at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Board of Directors meeting held July 23 for 50 years of service.
Dube, hired Nov. 1, 1958, intended to stay at the wheel for six months or until he could afford to return to college to become an aeronautical engineer. But college didn’t pay well in those days and the job as a bus operator turned into a career that extended well into his golden years. “It’s been a pleasure for me to work here and I’d like to stay on quite a few more years,” said Dube.
In the same year the Los Angeles Dodgers won their first pennant in their new home town, Jack Bailey came on board the Los Angeles MTA on July 6, 1959. He went to work the very next day at the West Hollywood Division and never looked back. A line instructor for 49 years and a mentor to new employees and trainees, he’s never had a miss-out (a bus yard term for late) in the entire 50 years. “He enjoys driving, enjoys his passengers, enjoys his co-workers,” said Leahy, who attended Bailey’s 50-year bash at the Carson Division on July 9. “It’s been wonderful to have 50 years of steady employment,” said Bailey.
United Transportation Union spokesman Goldy Norton heaped praise on the two longtime operators, congratulating both on behalf of General Chairman James Williams and the entire UTU membership for their “outstanding service to this agency and the outstanding manner in which they have represented our union. Riding a bus in the Los Angeles area is not easy and that they have accomplished this in over a half a century is an amazing accomplishment of which we are very proud,” he said.
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