All SF Muni drivers must now request permission from their boss to take a bathroom break, and their union is complaining about these stricter new driver rules they say don’t even allow drivers to eat or use their phone while on breaks.

It is well-known that the SF Municipal Transit Agency (SFMTA) that runs the Muni system is running a giant deficit of $50 million for the current fiscal year, and that could swell to a $320 million deficit the next fiscal year. So they’ve been cutting bus lines and eliminating senior staff positions in order to scrounge whatever savings they can. But the latest cost-cutting measure is infuriating Muni drivers, because the agency is…. eliminating drivers’ bathroom breaks?

Yes, as KGO reports, a new set of SFMTA driver rules says drivers must ask their boss for permission to take a bathroom break. KGO spoke to several angry drivers for the above report, and understandably, none of them gave their names. (But they spoke on camera, so it seems their bosses would know who they are.) The drivers are upset about this new bathroom-break request arrangement, and KGO also says the new policy “allows for no smoking, eating, or use of cellphones” while on duty.

"I want to eat, in the eight hours I need to eat, and I need 15-20 minutes to eat, it's that simple," one Muni driver told KGO.

The way the SFMTA sees it, this policy will increase Muni’s efficiency and save money. The agency says that unscheduled driver breaks are costing them $1.4 million to $1.6 million per year, and lead to 400 hours per month of buses being out of service. Drivers currently get a 15-minute break between routes, but they say that usually gets cut short.  

And as the SF Standard points out, that 15 minutes also gets eaten up by the time finding a bathroom, not just using it.

Any driver who needs a break outside of that 15 minutes has to take what is called a “Operator Personal Necessity” break, or “702” in Muni lingo. And the new policy requires the driver to specifically request that break from their boss. As Muni drivers point out, there are no other city employees who have such restrictions on taking breaks, or limits on when they go to the bathroom.

It sounds like this new policy is already in effect, though the Standard notes that the transit union’s president Anthony Ballester is “urging members not to sign forms that allow the agency to enforce the new rules.” KGO also adds that an unnamed “union president” (presumably Ballester)  "plans to attend the SFMTA Board of Directors meeting on September 2 to represent the drivers and voice his concerns on this new policy going forward."

There is currently no agenda posted for that SFMTA board meeting. So it’s not clear whether this policy is actually an agenda item, or if he just plans to complain during public comment. So we’ll see how much the union can do to push back against this new bathroom break policy that has given Muni drivers a flush of anger.

Related: Muni’s Boat Tram and Other Vintage Streetcars Begin Their Summer Return to Service Today [SFist]

Image: SFMTA