Dedicated Funding for WMATA is a Must!

Once again, there are widespread calls to establish sustainable funding for the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority. WMATA and the Compact partners are faced with what Metro has estimated is a $750 million budget shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year. However, this stated budget gap did not appear out of thin air. Rather, it is a symptom of a long term problem plaguing the system - a lack of dedicated and sustainable funding. Metro is integral to the economy and everyday life of Southern Maryland. Although the state of Maryland faces a transportation budget shortfall of its own, addressing future funding of Metro will provide certainty for Marylanders and businesses, and ensure the continual success of the region of the state.

WMATA is the only major transit authority in the U.S. that does not have a dedicated funding stream. Like the Sword of Damocles, a lack of dedicated funding has hung over WMATA since the first Metrorail train ran in the early 1970s. Now, with the budget crisis it seems the sword has dangled lower and lower. One fact is unmistakably clear: if assertive action is not taken soon by the compact members, the sword will fall, causing WMATA to fail.

As the Union representing thousands of frontline WMATA workers, Local 689 is committed to partnering with the Compact and stakeholders to devise a solution. We all need to look ahead to how we want the transit system to be for future generations and we need to think big. Immediate action such drastically slashing service may appear to alleviate the budget gap but it will have horrendous long-term consequences. So will cutting workers’ well-earned and deserved healthcare and pension benefits. According to an actuarial report issued for Fiscal Year 2021 and 2022, WMATA’s pension system is 81% funded, which makes it one of the best - if not the best - in the country. Pension costs do not drastically contribute to the unfunded operations for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 - slashing the contributions would have a minimal budget effect. More importantly, cutting pensions and healthcare coverage is stealing from employees who stood up and stayed on the job to help keep the region moving during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of Local 689’s members caught COVID-19 multiple times and sadly, several passed away due to the virus. In the pandemic, they were hailed as heroes. They shouldn’t now be treated as zeros in order to balance the books.

Policymakers should resist the temptation to reduce benefits for its employees and slash service and instead focus on real solutions that will not harm the future quality of the system. Metro plays a critical role in the region for both everyday travel and special events. While the DMV area is unique in its position and status in the country, the problems WMATA face are not. We can look to other regions in the country for solutions. Dedicated funding is already the case in many transit authorities including Austin, Boston, Chicago, and New York. Dedicated funding sources are common because they work. It defies all logic that WMATA has been providing service to the riding public for more than 50 years without one. Through generous assistance from its Compact partners, including the federal government, WMATA has managed to provide transportation services to the region. Without a source of dedicated funding, WMATA’s days of providing the same level of service are numbered.

Congress Is Right To Prioritize Public Transit Worker Safety

To the Sisters and Brothers of Local 689, 

Last month, a coalition of more than one hundred bi-partisan members of Congress sent a letter to  Federal Transit Administrator Fernandez urging action to protect public transit workers by fully implementing the FAST Act. Public Transit workers face an alarming trend of increased harassment and violence from unruly passengers each and every day. As our country continues into the third decade of the 21st century, modernizing public transportation is essential. While policy is discussed to bring about that change, conversations ensuring a safe work environment for the dedicated workers who operate public transit is a necessary facet.

As with many things, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed cracks in DC’s Metro and brought to light challenges faced by the system and its employees. During the Trump Administration, the FTA decided not to implement new safety standards to protect transit worker safety, determining  the then current regulations were sufficient. Their decision was contrary to the law passed by Congress and reality. Since the decision in 2019, the circumstances have only become more dire.  According to data collected, at least one transit worker is assaulted per day while at work. Over the past decade, the dangers public transit workers face have increased in frequency and veracity, and there is nothing to suggest the alarming trend will not continue. The persisting effects of the pandemic, widespread apprehension about the economy, and neglected community investment are examples of factors contributing to the increase in violence public transit workers face each and every day. More must be done by elected leaders at all levels of government to curb the increase in violence. 

Earlier this year, a Metro engineer and member of ATU Local 689 was shot and killed while defending passengers from a man with a gun. Since then, we continue to partner with WMATA to improve the safety of the Metro system for all passengers and employees. We’re committed to continuing to improve safety conditions, but we cannot do it alone. Updated Federal regulations is a corner piece necessary for constructing the whole puzzle. 

The public transit workers throughout D.C. move the region, transporting millions of people every year. Transit workers provide an important public service and prioritizing their safety will also protect the safety of the passengers. The importance of protecting public transit workers should not be an afterthought for lawmakers and regulators. Instead, it should be emphasized in order to ensure a safe and reliable transportation system for everyone. The efforts by members of Congress to ensure the FTA protects the public transit workforce is appreciated. The FTA should heed their call and take action. Twice in the past eight years, Congress has taken action to protect the safety of public transit workers. There is no reason to wait for Congress to take action a third time to use the tools at their disposal to impact change. 

It is clear that more work has to be done to account for the current and future transportation needs of our region. While there are many individuals proposing a variety of solutions, it is essential that improved safety for transit workers be included in these solutions, in all solutions. An enhanced and constantly improving public transportation is vital for future generations of employees and tourists. Safety concerns will always persist, but that doesn’t excuse not doing anything. It is important that steps are taken now to improve safety in the short-term and build a foundation for a safer transit system which will serve future generations. With the government funded for this fiscal year, (at least for the next few weeks), it is time for the FTA and Congress to shift their focus to protecting public transit operators. Restarting the process for developing new regulations aimed at protecting public transit workers is a great start. But there is still more to do.

In Solidarity, 

Raymond N. Jackson

President and Business Agent

The Path Forward

To the Sisters and Brothers of Local 689,

Our ATU Local 689 family has expanded rapidly over the past few years. Efforts are underway to galvanize our members throughout the region and organize new workers. Everyday, Local 689 focuses its energy on fighting for you and your rights in the workplace. We have secured better contracts with higher wages, better benefits, and fairer treatment for our members. But there is still more work to do for the reminder of 2023 and next year.

We are entering contract negotiations with National Express and Fairfax Connecter, and laying the groundwork for next year’s negotiations with WMATA. We are ready to come to the table and bargain in good-faith, and if need be we’re ready to stand firm against illegal bargaining actions. Local 689 is going to use every tool at our disposal to ensure our members get their fair share and the benefits they deserve.

A union cannot stand by itself without help from its members. We need you all to be engaged and involved with Local 689. Attend the monthly meetings, stand on the picket line, contact your shop steward for updates, and so forth. In addition, unions need support from lawmakers. Every election matters and this year the state legislative elections in Virginia could have devastating effects for the DC Metro system and the labor movement. So we need you to get involved and volunteer your time and energy. Keep an eye out for more information.

The future of ATU Local 689 looks brighter than ever and we are strongest when we stand together. Together, united we stand tall. Separate, we fall. Thank you again for your confidence and trust in me, and I look forward to taking the path forward with you.

In Solidarity,

Raymond N. Jackson

President and Business Agent

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

Our Real Work Lies Ahead

To the Sisters and Brothers of ATU Local 689,

I wanted to thank the members for putting their faith in me once again to serve as President and Business Agent. I ran with other members on a platform of fighting for those that joined WMATA after 2010, improving dental insurance and reversing the givebacks of the 2016 contract, negotiating a family-sustaining living wage for all MetroAccess workers, equal pay for all fixed route bus operators in this region, shortening progression schedules for maintenance and construction, adequate staffing in all departments, better sick leave that can be used to care for sick spouses or children, unifying the transit workers of the public and private sector to fight against their employers. We also committed to using this union's political power to fight for affordable housing, healthcare as a human right, fair treatment of immigrant workers, and the end of racist police actions.

The members have spoken. They demanded action. They committed this union to another three years of working to build a strong, well-run organization capable of channeling the power of all transit workers in this region. That's not to say the path ahead will be easy. In 2022 alone, we will have contract campaigns to run at DC Circulator, Battle's Transportation, MV Call Center, MV Fastran, and Transdev Hubbard Road. We know what we're up against! But we're confident our membership has the power to make this our reality. I hope to speak with all of you soon about my plans for the next term. We cannot afford to sit back and wait. We hope to improve communications with the membership, strengthen our shop stewards and representation, provide regular trainings and social events, while using our shared resources as efficiently as possible. We're very proud of what we have planned and I look forward to spending more time in the field, speaking with you over the coming months. The future of Local 689 is strong.

In Solidarity,

Raymond N. Jackson

President and Business Agent

Our Power Is Our Members, We Need You to Get Involved!

To the Sisters and Brothers of ATU Local 689,

Every day when I talk to our members, I'm reminded by how much we have achieved as a Local. From winning historic strikes at Cinder Bed Road and MV Call Center, to historic contracts at DASH & WMATA, we've become one of the strongest transit union locals on the continent. But at the same time, I am also overwhelmed by how much more work we have ahead of us over the coming years. The task ahead of us is too big. We can't do it alone, without a membership that fully understands what needs to get done and why. With this letter, I hope to take the time for members to better understand where I come from and how to understand your role to play in the future of the labor movement.

Many transit workers seem to casually view their fellow transit workers as the enemy. This is dangerous and wrong. It's not uncommon to hear things like, "They stole our work!" or "They took XYZ route!" Who is it we refer to when we say that? We can't afford to be imprecise with our words. There is not a single transit worker in this region that took work from another transit worker. We can not make a clear plan to fight back if we don't start from this understanding. We must always know who are friends are and who our opponents are.

Our opponents are the private companies, the elected officials, the transit planners, and the managers that wake up every day and go to work in their personal cars and think about ways to make public transit a footnote in history. These people are the ones who actually take work from well-paid public transit workers and give them to bottom-feeding private contractors. Why do they do it? Some do it to make money. Some do it to win campaign donations. Others do it because they hate unions. Not a single transit worker gets consulted in this process. Our opponents know that they win when they can split the transit workers of this region into smaller and smaller groups with less power.

Our allies are the transit workers of this region! We all work in the same labor market. When PG County complains that they can't find school bus drivers, they explicitly mention its because WMATA pays more. When an arbitrator looks at our wage rates, they compare WMATA's wage rate to every other system in this region, even those in other parts of the country. We're all in this together! What happens at RideOn effects us all. What happens at The Bus effects us all. What happens at ART effects us all. It's transit workers and our supporters vs. our opponents. Those are the only two teams!

So if we understand that our opponents will try to pit us against each other, how can we fight back? We need to be there for each other, standing side by side as transit workers to fight for contracts that eliminate the economic incentive that elected officials use to justify their privatization schemes. This can't be done from the sidelines or on social media. This requires us to show up and get involved by canvassing, volunteering, or walking a picket line!

But this isn't just a dream! This is our own history! Public transit didn't just appear because politicians said it would be convenient. Public transit was the result of decades of organizing by transit workers and riders, including our own Local 689, that forced private transit companies to become unviable. Our own Local through strikes and organizing the private companies of the region was part of the very reason WMATA was created in the first place!

We can never forget that it was organized transit workers that helped make the public transit systems we all know and fight for today! It was organized transit workers that helped prove that private transit companies were unsustainable and both riders and workers would be better served by publicly owned and accountable systems. But our opponents wouldn't let our victory be permanent. They immediately began to try to divide transit workers by splitting the systems that we helped build. They guessed correctly that thousands of workers divided were easier to defeat than thousands of workers united. It's been their playbook since the 1970s.

But we're not going to let our opponents win! We've fought to make private transit workers part of the public sector before and we can do it again! We can do it by organizing the transit workers of this region until no one can move a bus around the nation's capital without paying a family-sustaining wage and offering a well-funded pension! To do this, we'll need to align contracts so our opponents can't pit MetroAccess garage against MetroAccess garage or shuttle worker against shuttle worker. As we do that we'll need to run serious, well organized, and well resourced campaigns that rally members to take action and fight for everything that they deserve. Then after we've raised the wages and working conditions of the different systems in our region, we can apply pressure to bring these workers into the public sector. It may sound simple and straightforward on paper, but we should never underestimate how much work lies ahead of us. I don't doubt for a minute that this is possible, because I believe in Local 689 and the power of organized workers to achieve almost anything.

What is your role to play in all of this? You're probably used to hearing our union say "We need your help!" or "Get involved!" but we're serious. We need your help! Get involved! The only way to win these fights ahead of us is through members helping out. Whether it's canvassing on the weekends to help make sure we elect labor-friendly politicians, showing up to a rally to support your fellow members of Local 689, or even just volunteering to distribute flyers and important information to other workers at your location. Local 689 has to be a well-oiled machine capable of turning members in organizers that understand what's at stake.

Also in this edition of The 689 Informer were some inspiring organizing campaigns led by Starbucks Workers in Upstate New York. We have coverage of some of the first new MetroRail expansion proposals in years along with updates on public transit projects across the region. We cover ways that fare-free transit might impact our members. We also cove the MetroAccess Call Center and how they won large wage increases after their one day strike in May. We talk about the upcoming Virginia Elections, the push for zero-emissions vehicles, and how to understand the coach & shuttle industry.

All this and more in October's edition of The 689 Informer! We hope to provide you the information you need to understand what the union is up against and how you can help! Never hesitate to reach out to the Union Hall if you have questions. Our number is 301-568-6899.

In Solidarity,

Raymond N. Jackson

President and Business Agent

The Future Is Bright, But We Have to Fight For It.

To the Sisters and Brothers of ATU Local 689,

For over a year we weren't able to meet in person due to a pandemic that took the lives of hundreds of transit workers across the country. I can not describe in words how happy I was to see your faces again at June and July's union meetings. It helps remind me why I do this work. Behind every grievance, every political fight to keep transit funding, every fight with WMATA to keep routes or restore service, and every contract negotiation is an actual person. The decisions we make as a union have real stakes to all of our members and their families.

I hope to always use these moments to speak with all of our members to ensure that they are fully informed on what is happening in our region. This isn't just an opportunity to share union business, but an opportunity to make sure that all of our members understand the bigger picture. In this edition of the newsletter, we've enclosed a story that should explain the scale of what we're fighting against.

Just a few days before this was published WMATA lost another five routes to the Fairfax Connector. In "Know Your History" we talk about how the entire reason WMATA was created was to avoid a fractured transit system for the nation's capital that wouldn't repeat the profit-driven mistakes that left transit workers and customers behind. We also discuss how from the very beginning of the WMATA system, there were attempts to chop it up, divide and pit the transit workers of this region against each other. I ask that every member reads this story and learns the history. Myself and former Local 689 Presidents Jackie Jeter and Mike Golash recorded a webinar livestream that is still on our Facebook page that helps explain the same story. Over the last year, we have worked hard at Local 689 to reverse that course and start to unite the transit workers of this region into one fighting union that can stand up to any transit system and demand fair wages and working conditions. I ask for your help in this fight as we try to reverse a half-century push towards privatization and devolution.

In Virginia, the labor movement came up short on election day. I'm proud to say that our union did everything we could to try to elect our endorsed candidates, including Jennifer Carroll Foy and Elizabeth Guzman, but many of our allies will no longer have their seats in Richmond year. Some of our most outspoken supporters of repealing anti-union "right to work" laws lost their primary elections to candidates that we don't have existing relationships with.

When I was out there canvassing voters, encouraging them to support our endorsed candidates, I was reminded by how much more work we need to do as a labor movement. Even though our union is able to move more volunteers than many of our allies, we still struggle to get large numbers of members out when we need them. Our union is only as strong as our ability to move our members to take action.

Additionally:

• I've continued discussions with WMATA on a concrete process and timeline for bringing the Cinder Bed Road garage back in house. We won this as part of the 4-year Memorandum of Understanding during the 2019-2020 strike of Transdev workers. ATU Local 689 members currently at Cinder Bed Road will be hired at WMATA. We're still negotiating over the particular details.

• In April, Transdev workers at the MetroAccess facility on Hubbard Road voted to approve a new contract through June 30th, 2022.

• MV Transportation workers at the MetroAccess Call Center voted down a company proposal and pledged to fight for everything they deserve.

• MV Transportation workers at Fastran recently approved a proposed 1-year extension to their contract that provided them with retention bonuses, minimum hour guarantees, and wage increases.

• The WMATA collective bargaining agreement is still being negotiated. The Bargaining Committee received all member proposals, examined them, and submitted them to the Executive Board for review.

The future of Local 689 is bright, but only if we all fight for it!

In Solidarity,

Raymond Jackson

Welcome to ATU Local 689: A Message to the Former Members of Local 1764

Welcome to ATU Local 689.

For years we have driven buses along the same roads and worked in the same garages, but the companies kept us apart. We have done the same work, but received different pay. We had separate strikes, but walked the same picket lines. We had different local unions, but our issues were the same.

Both ATU Local 689 and Local 1764:

• were fighting against privatization and low-bid private contractors.

• were fighting for a fair shot at retirement for our members.

• were fighting for fair treatment on the job and respect.

• were fighting for safety and decent working conditions.

• were fighting to turn transit jobs into transit careers.

• were fighting to empower working people everywhere.

• were organizing to bring new transit workers into the labor movement.

It was always the same fight. Now, with all of us united into one union local of the Amalgamated Transit Union, we have the power and ability to win this fight. So what comes next? We will fight to make sure that EVERY transit worker in this region has wages that can support a family, a path to retirement, rights and protections on the job, and power in their workplace and community. Until we've won that, we have more work to do. That's what Local 689 is all about. If you agree with that, then you'll fit in great at Local 689.

This newsletter is our way of trying to introduce you to Local 689 and help you to learn how we do things. Only these first few pages have been changed and then the remainder of March's 689 Informer is published in full for you to read. Obviously, we're still in the middle of a pandemic so many things still haven't returned to how they normally work, but we hope that this newsletter is informative. Pay close attention to the page featuring how to subscribe to union publications. If you ever have any questions, never hesitate to call the union hall and we'll do our best to put you in touch with someone that can help you. Together we fight, together we win.

Sincerely,

Raymond Jackson

Where We Stand Today

March 2021. It has been almost a year since the pandemic began to change everything about the way we live. Think of where you were then and what we have had to go through in the last twelve months. Whether it was the global pandemic that took the lives of hundreds of transit workers, or the protests against racial inequality, the election that finally removed Trump from office, or the insurrection on Capitol Hill that tried to overturn that election. It has been a challenging time for all of us. Some more than others. While many in this region worked from home, thousands of our members were out there on the frontlines.

The last time I wrote to you WMATA was just moments away from historic service cuts and layoffs. We were saved at the last minute by emergency federal transit funding in December. Unfortunately the two rounds of emergency funding didn't fully end the possibility of service cuts or layoffs, but just delayed them.

As I write this, I am watching February's WMATA's Board of Directors meeting. They're discussing a new budget for Fiscal Year 2022 that delays layoffs through the end of calendar year 2021. But if they don't receive additional federal assistance, WMATA is still predicting layoffs on January 1st, 2022. It was the work of our brothers and sisters in the labor movement that helped swing key states and ultimately the election for Joe Biden. We're counting on him to help us when we need him most. We're working hard to ensure that Congress passes President Biden's recovery package that includes $30 billion of additional support for transit systems like WMATA. We feel optimistic that it will pass, but we still encourage members to prepare themselves financially for all possibilities.

n other fronts, ATU has weighed in on the Virginia 2021 Democratic Primaries. ATU met with and endorsed Jennifer Carroll Foy for Governor and Elizabeth Guzman for Lieutenant Governor. Both have been strong allies of labor and will help make sure that the needs of working people are prioritized in the commonwealth. We won't just sit back and make our endorsement. We're going to mobilize members to knock on doors, call voters, and register our members and their families to vote. This opportunity is too important to miss. If you want to get involved, keep an eye out for our email newsletter and text messages from the union on how to help.

Local 689 isn't just Metro workers. We're one of the largest transit union locals in the country. We've been hard at work fighting for good contracts at many of our properties across this region, including:

• First Transit workers at Capitol Heights who wrapped up negotiations in August.

• National Express workers at the Temple Hills & Lorton whose negotiations are ongoing.

• DC Streetcar workers who wrapped up in August.

• MV Transportation workers at FASTRAN whose negotiations will begin soon.

This union is always busy. Everyday we're out there fighting for our members. Whether its at the negotiating table, in arbitrations, at the union hall, or on the picket line. We'll be there, ready for whatever comes our way. Read this issue to make sure you're informed about what's going on and ready to join us in the fight.

In Solidarity,

Raymond Jackson

The Fight of Our Lives

(December 2019) Let me start by saying, the first 11 months of my administration has been full of action! It has been a pleasure serving as your president, just as I imagined. We’ve been working around the clock to build power for our members. Since January, there have been many questions about the inner workings of the Union and how we plan to proceed.

The one question that I hear almost daily is “What’s going on with Cinder Bed Road?”

This special edition newsletter will hopefully answer (in detail) every question that you might have about Cinder Bed Road and our strike.

In This Edition:

• When Did This Fight Start?

• Why Would WMATA Do This?

• How Does This Privatization Scheme Work?

• How Has Local 689 Responded?

• What Has Happened Since the Strike Started?

• What Have We Done To Stay Busy While On Strike?

• What Do We Want?

• How Do We Win this Fight?

• What Can I Do To Help?

When Did this Fight Start?

In late 2017, WMATA announced that they would accept RFP (Request for Proposals) for the management and operations of the new bus garage located at 7900 Cinder Bed Road, Lorton, VA 22122. This meant, WMATA, via its General Manager, Paul Wiedefeld, was making a historic move to privatize, for the first time in WMATA’s history, a new bus garage.

Like many others, Local Union 689 submitted our proposal for the work as well as began to open legal proceedings to challenge the move based on the language in our Collective Bargaining Agreement under Sections 110 – Subcontracting and 1975's 13c Agreement.

Why Would WMATA Do This?

General Manager Paul Wiedefeld believes that privatizing our Public Transit System would help his “Back to Good” plan to “FIX” WMATA’s problems. Wiedefeld misled customers and politicians that this move to privatize the Cinder Bed Garage would save WMATA money and improve the experience for riders.

Well, Paul’s plan was wrong from the beginning. Hiring a private contractor to do the work at any division of WMATA doesn’t save the Authority money; it fosters an environment of unsafe, untrained workers, and creates a liability for WMATA by hiring cheap labor.

Like anything in the world, you get what you pay for. Cutting corners on labor costs will result in decreased maintenance, worker injuries, and lower training standards. All of this just to save a few bucks!

Ultimately, Paul Wiedefeld isn’t focused on just privatizing one bus garage. His plans have always been bigger than one garage. His goal is to break Local 689 itself! He has already sought proposals from private contractors for the entire Silver Line operations. If he succeeds with the Silver Line and Cinder Bed, he will move garage by garage until the entire WMATA system is run by low-bid bottom feeding contractors and every transit worker makes $20 per hour.

This isn’t speculation or just our best guess, we know this is their plan because this is what has happened in other transit systems across the world. There is a move across the world to take public transit systems and sell them off to private companies. But workers and riders are fighting back!

How Does This Privatization Scheme Work?

General Manager Paul Wiedefeld gave the contract to Transdev, a massive French multinational transportation corporation. Reporters still haven’t been able to find details in the contract but we know that the deal gave Transdev $89 million to operate the garage for three years, with options to extend the deal another two years.

Transdev, formally known as Veolia, has a business model like all other transit contractors. It gets contracts from local transit systems and then hires workers at starvation wages and pockets the difference as profit. Transdev then ships these profits back overseas to France in order to pay their CEO whose name is Yann LeRiche (which is French for “the rich”). Transdev is one of the biggest transportation contractors in this region and also runs the Fairfax Connector, Hubbard Road Paratransit facility, and will also run the Loudoun Commuter Bus.

In the case of Cinder Bed Bus Garage, Transdev lures in workers with $2,000 or $3,000 signing bonuses. In some cases the workers there even thought they were working for WMATA’s MetroBus, but only found out after they had signed up that they were working for a contractor. The contract with Transdev covers every employee operating out of the Cinder Bed Road to include bus operators, bus maintenance, utility workers, and custodial staff. No one is safe from privatization!

But this scheme is “a penny wise and a pound foolish,” because even from the beginning things weren’t going well with Transdev. When the garage first opened Transdev was unable to hire enough operators at their low wages that they had to fly in “SUB-CONTRACTORS” to drive the buses for a few weeks. This means that WMATA’s contractor had to find another contractor to drive the buses while they tried to train enough people. The funniest part of this is that Transdev likely paid some company upwards of $50 or $60 per hour for these subcontractors. All of this is in the name of “saving money.”

From what we’re able to find out, WMATA basically gave the garage to Transdev and told them to run it for 3 years in accordance with certain guidelines set by their contract. WMATA then took approximately 90 buses from local garages and sent them to Cinder Bed Road for the contractor to operate service.

These buses were the absolute worst of the fleet and repeatedly fall apart, break down, and put passengers at risk. The Cinder Bed garage has regular MetroBuses, Metro signage on the building, some WMATA managers on the property, Metro Transit Police, and Metro routes moved from other Metro garages, but a contractor is allegedly “running the shop.” This whole relationship is just a scam to try and break ATU Local 689, but we won’t let them.

How Has Local 689 Responded?

When Local 689 got word of WMATA’s plan to bring contractors to the new garage our leadership began to strategize. Local 689 partnered with its attorneys and International Union leadership to seek ways to stop the move through the courts. We sued WMATA for violating our collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and for violating Section 13c of the Urban Mass Transportation Act, which prohibits the use of federal development money being used to lower the standards or working conditions of unionized workers.

We also began a pressure campaign under Fmr. President Jackie Jeter to let WMATA and any contractor that might be interested in bidding on the contract that they had the fight of their lives on their hands if they chose to accept the contract. When WMATA held an “open house” at the newly built Cinder Bed property we held a rally outside. WMATA wanted to show off how beautiful the new building was, but instead wealthy contractors were greeted by hundreds of our members and retirees blocking the road.

When WMATA chose Transdev we knew we had to act fast. We went in to the new facility and began signing up members to the union.

We knew that our ultimate leverage over WMATA and Transdev was if we could win these workers a first-rate collective bargaining agreement, we could both prevent WMATA from ever doing this again and increase the likelihood that they brought this work back in-house. If we could organize these workers, we could eliminate WMATA’s economic incentive to privatize.

When we tried to organize these workers we were thrown off the property, had the cops called on us, and were disrespected by the company. After a few months, on November 15, 2018 the workers at Cinder Bed Road joined Local Union 689. Bringing these workers into Local 689 meant that WMATA could no longer try to pit us against each other, private vs. public. Because when we stand united, against our real enemy WMATA, no one can stop us.

What Happened Next?

I won’t pretend that everything with this campaign has been smooth sailing. We’ve had some ups and downs. After the Cinder Bed Workers joined ATU Local 689, we began our first negotiations with Transdev in February. Every negotiation session was one attempt after another by the company to stall, delay, or drag out the process. The company repeatedly violated the workers’ rights by placing them under surveillance and intimidating them. By August the workers were so fed up with the company’s antics that they demanded that there be a strike authorization vote. The very next day, our organizers were down at Cinder Bed garage with a strike authorization vote set up. The results were published that night and it was UNANIMOUS in favor of striking. Over 80% of workers, including many that drove in on their off day, voted in that election and it was only open for 12 hours.

After we took the strike authorization vote we hoped that the company would recognize how serious we were. At DASH, ATU had been able to achieve an INCREDIBLE contract with the highest wage rates in the entire region on the threat of a strike alone. But we underestimated how much WMATA was going to have the back of Transdev. The contractor didn’t budge at all on their positions at the negotiating table. Every few weeks during negotiations, they would come up with some new excuse about why they didn’t have a single response to our economic proposals for WMATA parity wages and benefits.

By October, we realized that this fight was not going to be won unless we went out on strike. We did not take this decision lightly. We understood that if we went out on strike, many of our members at Cinder Bed road would risk foreclosure, eviction, hunger, and economic hardship. But we knew that around this country, workers are on the move and strikes are the number one tool to make the bosses listen to us.

We began to plan for the inevitable, the first strike of a MetroBus garage in 41 years.

What Has Happened Since the Strike Started?

Transdev and WMATA have been blasted in the press and by the riding public for their failures to fix this issue. We’ve been blown away by the support that we’ve received.

We’ve received donations, letters of solidarity, volunteers on the picket line, and much more from National Nurses United, International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, Transportation Workers Union, International Association of Machinists, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Service Employees International Union, Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, International Association of Fire Fighters,

UNITE HERE, Association of Flight Attendants, Communication Workers of America, United Food and Commercial Workers, Working America, American Federation of Teachers, Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, Virginia AFL-CIO, Maryland AFL-CIO, the AFL-CIO Executive Leadership, and countless others.

We’ve even received letters of support from our sisters and brothers in the transport workers unions from around the world, including messages from Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Cote D’Ivoire, France, United Kingdom, Thailand, and India.

ATU International has supported us every step of the way and helped us with everything from logistical planning to financial support. President John Costa and his staff have been with us since day one. President Costa even made sure to send all of the new Presidents that visited the Tommy Douglas Center for trainings down to our picket line to gain some strike experience firsthand. President Costa has also mobilized every single Local President of a union that has Transdev workers and helped create a pressure campaign that will spread across the country.

Representatives Pocan, Wexton, Beyer, Connolly, and Raskin all sent messages of solidarity and demanded that WMATA intervene to apply pressure to the workers what they deserve. Importantly, these letters all questioned whether privatization was the right path forward for WMATA. We also received letters of support from countless Virginia Senators and Delegates, all of whom went on to win their elections on November 5th. We also received a crucial letter from the Fairfax Board of Supervisors and its incoming members demanding that Transdev return to the table. The letter from incoming Chairman Jeff McKay even went so far as to demand that Virginia revisit its 3% increase funding cap.

We received not one, but two messages of support from Presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), where he said “Transdev cannot continue to put profits over people. Cinder Bed Road workers deserve fair pay, workplace protections, and good health care benefits. I am proud to stand with ATU Local 689 in their fight.” He later posted our event on his website and encouraged his grassroots organization Our Revolution Arlington to join us at our rally.

We’ve been overwhelmed with the solidarity that our longtime members have shown to our newer brothers and sisters at Cinder Bed. We’ve received donations of everything from firewood to food at the picket line! But we need to make sure that all of our members are prepared for whatever comes next when this fight grows beyond just one garage.

What Have We Done To Stay Busy While On Strike?

Despite being on strike, we still had some fun! We found time to write and produce a song by one of our strikers, Otis Price, called “Don’t Play With Our Money.” It became our anthem!

Our music video received over 60,000 views on twitter alone. We hired a local projectionist to display it on the WMATA entrance during the mornings and evenings so every single person walking into the building knows about our strike. We also brought a barber out to give people haircuts right next to the picket line.

One of our striking workers was pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on Day 3 of the strike. By day 8, Sharita was back out on the picket line standing with her fellow workers. We’ve also celebrated workers’ birthdays on the picket line and found time to get them a cake!

What Do We Want?

We want what we’ve always wanted. Fair wages and benefits for our members that allow them to live comfortable lives. We know that this is impossible if Transdev and WMATA win.

So for this strike to end we want one of two things:

• Either a fair collective bargaining agreement for the workers at Cinder Bed Road that gives them the same wages and benefits as regular WMATA employees. If we succeed with this it will eliminate all of the cost-savings of privatization and prevent WMATA from trying this again. This doesn’t mean that we give up our fight to bring in these workers as full WMATA employees.

• Or WMATA should kick out Transdev immediately and hire these Cinder Bed workers as full WMATA employees. This would end privatization before it spreads to other garages.

How Do We Win This Fight?

We win this fight by escalating pressure on WMATA and Transdev. It’s that simple! Some days it may feel like this fight has gone on forever or has no end in sight, but that’s because pressure builds up over time. Chris Townsend, the Director of Field Mobilization for the ATU International always compares strikes to lifting a heavy load of rocks with a rope and pulley. It will always seem like the rope is doing just fine until moments before it is about to snap when everything gives way. Our job is to pile on the rocks and build pressure!

What Can I do to Help?

First and foremost, make sure that you’re in constant contact with your shop steward. We need as many members involved in this fight as possible. They’ll be your link to staying up to date on what’s happening. The best leverage we have against WMATA and Transdev is a well-organized ATU Local 689.

1. Donate online at bit.ly/cinderbedstrike

We need donations to help workers pay for medicine and other specific needs at this time.

2. Sign up to bring food to the picket line!

Contact Todd Brogan (tbrogan@atu.org) if you would like to volunteer with this. We have to feed over a hundred people every day of the strike.

3. Donate firewood!

It’s cold out there and we have two firebarrels to keep us warm! We burn about a chord of wood every couple of days. Please bring any firewood that you have to 7900 Cinder Bed Road, Lorton, VA. We’ve received donations from union members across the region.

4. Join us on the picket line!

Come join us on the picket line! We’re there Mondays through Fridays from 5AM to 4PM and on weekends from 9AM to 4PM. The picket line is a great place to meet L689 members from different garages and learn about the fight we’re facing.

5. Talk to your co-workers about the strike!

There is nothing that Wiedefeld fears more than Local 689 on the WMATA side learning about how successful this strike has been. Once that happens there is no limit to what we can achieve.

6. Post messages of support online!

It’s important that Wiedefeld and the press know that they can’t ignore this issue. Make sure that your friends and family know what’s happening down in Lorton. Encourage them to write to WMATA customer service.

Updates from WMATA Board

On May 23rd, the WMATA Board of Directors met for the 1450th time in its history. We sent a member of our staff there to keep us up to date. 

Pennsy Drive Rail Yard
The day began with a routine presentation at the Finance and Capital Committee by staff. WMATA plans to purchase new property at 3636 Pennsy Drive in Landover, Maryland for the construction of a heavy rail repair and maintenance facility. The staff explained that the new facility would consolidate the employees at the Greenbelt and Brentwood rail yards. The new yard would employ 300 workers and cost around $400 million. We’ll be watching the Authority’s plans closely to make sure that this consolidation proposal does not hurt our members.

Comment on Privatizing Maintenance on Capital Improvements
After a presentation by staff on the current Capital Improvement Program a WMATA Board member asked if there was a possibility that operations and maintenance on new capital improvement projects could be bundled with construction contracting requests. Comments like these show how fundamentally anti-worker and anti-union the WMATA Board is. Outsourcing and privatizing operations and maintenance on capital improvements only enriches wealthy corporations that provide poor service to customers, while treating their workers as disposable. These offhand comments show why it is so important that we find lawmakers in Virginia willing to fight anti-union legislation, like the 2017 ban on Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) for WMATA’s construction projects. 

New Alternate Board Member
Thomas Graham of Prince George’s County was sworn in as a new alternate WMATA Board member from Maryland. We look forward to working with Mr. Graham and hope to meet with him in the near future. 

Jack Evans
The meeting ended with a short report from the Chair Jack Evans announcing that he would not seek another term as Chair of the WMATA Board. As many members know, Evans is currently being investigated for “pay to play” politics and accepting consulting contracts from companies that have business before the DC Council. 
While we are glad to see that Jack won’t seek another term as Chair, we wonder why the WMATA investigation into his corruption hasn’t been released to the public. There is currently a recall campaign against him, he’s facing two primary challengers, and investigations by both the DC Council and FBI, but apparently WMATA doesn’t see a problem with his actions.  
Jack Evans has been Chair for 3 ½ years. He’s used that time to go after Local 689’s pensions, privatize public transit work, violate our contract, and offer free metro rides to white supremacists.

It’s time for new leadership on the WMATA Board. Hopefully the new Chair will do the right thing and ask for Evans’ resignation. 

In Solidarity,
Raymond Jackson
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689
Raymond N. Jackson, President

Transit Equity Day - As we embark on the 106th birthday of Rosa Parks, let’s honor her legacy by continuing her fight!

February 4, 2019 marks the 106th birthday of visionary leader Rosa Parks, affectionately known as the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement.” To honor this day, ATU Local 689 has joined with Labor Network for Sustainability and a broad coalition of organizations for Transit Equity Day, a day to call for increased investment in public transportation.
 
It is no coincidence that Mrs. Parks’ act on Montgomery public transit served as the springboard for the Civil Rights Movement. At its core, access to reliable, affordable, safe public transportation is a civil right. Public transit has and still gives access to economic opportunity that drives working families into the middle class.
 
In the Washington D.C. metro area, we have seen upward mobility fall under attack in the Metro system through acts including privatization, cutting service and raising fares. All while leading the public to believe these acts are necessary because workers are overpaid and providing transit to all is too expensive.
 
Suggesting that paying transit workers fairly or that serving impoverished communities is the reason for our transit system's challenges is wrong. The deterioration of our Metro transit system has been a conscious decision to limit the upward mobility that created a thriving middle class in our community. These decisions undermine the progress that leaders like Rosa Parks fought to gain.
 
In our region, instead of investing in public transit that benefits the public and pays workers a good wage, we have seen millions of dollars wasted on private contractors. Most recently, Metro handed over the entire operation of the Cinder Bed Road bus garage in Virginia to a private contractor based out of France. Allowing a private contractor from outside of our region to manage Metro buses has never been done, and takes prosperity and equity out of our community.
 
Around the country, there are countless examples of transit systems failing with private contractors who put profits ahead of the public by raising prices, cutting safety corners, and eliminating service. As we commit to public transit as a civil right on this day, we must fight against privatization because it hurts the riding public that needs access to transit the most.
 
For more than 100 years, ATU Local 689 has advocated for safe, affordable and liable transit in this region. Our union firmly believes everyone deserves to live in a community where people are treated with respect regardless of their race, religion, sexual orientation, or class. We also deserve a society where workers have dignity on the job, and everyone has access to opportunity.
 
We should follow Rosa Parks’ example and use Transit Equity Day to ensure that public transit will always put the public first. Our re-commitment is the greatest way we can honor Rosa Parks’ legacy.