Milwaukee County Transit System Falls Short Hiring, Promoting Women And Minorities

The Milwaukee County Transit System has fallen short of its goals in hiring women and minorities for upper management positions, according to a new audit.

Over the past seven years, the county transit system did not meet the goals in hiring women in five out of seven employment areas.

Women were under-represented in areas of officials and administrators, professionals, technicians, administrative support workers, and craft workers.

Minority hires were lacking in three of the areas — craft workers, technicians, and administrative support workers.

James Macon, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 998, said the workforce is diverse at the entry level.

“It’s not shown in the promotion rates or the higher management,” he said. “You have lower managers like station managers of minorities, but when you get past that, it’s not fair across the board.”

Macon said hiring from within could solve that issue.

“You’re losing talent because no one wants to drive a bus forever,” he said. “People come in and try to get opportunities to move up and they don’t get the opportunities to move up.”

Transit system officials said in a statement they have hired a new equal employment opportunity officer and they are working to improve recruiting efforts to increase diversity.