ATU Union 1395 president Mike Lowery has moved one step closer to winning back his job for the county’s Escambia County Area Transit (ECAT).
Last year, Lowery was fired by the county when he went on WEAR-TV to complain about the lack of COVID safety precautions on the ECAT buses. Ironically, the county later adopted most of his recommendations. Since April 2020, Lowery has been fighting for his job.
Yesterday, Lowery’s attorney received a letter from the county “converting” his three-day suspension to a written reprimand: “The grieving (Lowery) will be compensated for the three-day term of the suspension…” Read Ltr.Floyd.3Day (KDH).
The county canceled an arbitration hearing that had been set for Sept. 21.
“This essentially eliminates the progressive disciple policy and will hurt the county’s case regarding my termination,” Lowery told Inweekly.
Earlier this month, the county lost its arbitration hearing on a  one-day suspension of Lowery for alleged insubordination when he took a day off to complete annual forms required for the union to remained the bargaining unit for ECAT workers.
Lowery said his attorney believes the county will come back next month or early August with a settlement offer on his firing and reinstate his employment.
