This Is Our Moment!
To the Sisters and Brothers of ATU Local 689,
You have heard many Local 689 leaders talk about how every transit worker in this region is part of the same fight whether they know it or not. We often talk about how what happens to one transit worker will happen to another transit worker later. We also talk about the opposite, how when we stand together and fight as one there's no one in this region that can beat us. We're proud to say that this was proven correct again when Local 689 won the three day strike of DC Circulator bus drivers. RATP Dev, their private contractor employers, wanted to put pennies on the table but our members weren't going to accept that. We told our members at DC Circulator that if they wanted something better they were going to have to fight for it. We told them that if they stood up and fought for themselves transit workers in this region would have their backs! Well after two months of failed negotiations, DC Circulator bus drivers walked off the job and demanded to be treated with respect. The company changed its tune and a deal was able to be reached within 72 hours of our members walking off the job. Local 689 members at Circulator won massive pay increases for both new hires and senior operators. They changed their 401k plan from a company match to an outright company contribution. Workers won better healthcare and fought company proposals that would have undermined their FMLA rights and subcontracted their jobs. In just 72 hours, Local 689 members proved that when we fight together, united as one, nobody can stand in our way!
But this win at Circulator isn't just a win for those members. When WMATA invokes contract arbitration, the arbitrators compare WMATA wages & benefits to every other bus company in our region. By winning better wages and benefits for our brothers and sisters at DASH, Circulator, Connector, and more we're able to protect what we fought for at WMATA. We're all in this together! Many thanks to all of the Local 689 members that showed up on the picket lines to support this campaign! Now we focus on paratransit! Together we fight! Together we win!
In Solidarity,
Raymond N. Jackson
President and Business Agent
