The CTA is trying to offer a silver lining to its soon-to-be laid off employees: temporary jobs driving buses at the 2010 Winter Olympics, according to press release the agency released on Friday.
The CTA is partnering with the firm responsible for setting up transportation for the Vancouver Olympics to provide “employment information and job applications” for agency employees expecting to be unemployed.
“We greatly regret the hardship these layoffs will cause for employees and their families, and we want to do everything we can to help them prepare,” CTA President Richard Rodriguez said in a statement. “In the meantime, we continue to talk to the union leadership to find solutions that will help preserve both service and jobs.”
The Olympic group, the press release said, is looking to “hire experienced, qualified bus operators to work during the Winter Games.” More than a thousand unionized transportation workers scheduled to be laid off around the time of the games’ start would seem to fit that bill nicely.