Press Advisory: Keolis Has No Heart: Striking Loudoun County Transit Workers to Rally Valentine’s Day
Forestville, Maryland – Demanding Loudoun County Supervisors levy fines against Keolis for missed service and bargain in good faith to end the month-long strike, Local 689 Loudoun County Transit workers and allies will hold a "Keolis Has No Heart” Valentine’s Day rally at 5pm outside the Board of Supervisors Finance and Government Operations Committee meeting at Loudoun County Government Center at 1 Harrison St SE in Leesburg.
The announcement comes as part of a rising tide of unrest from Keolis workers in Northern Virginia and around the country. Early this morning, members of Teamsters Local 639 at Keolis Transportation in Prince William County officially began their own strike. Keolis additionally had to recently pull out of Las Vegas, Nevada, altogether and lost a contract in Raleigh, North Carolina. Teamsters Local 533 in Reno, Nevada, also had to go on strike three times to secure a fair contract.
In light of this, Local 689 stands firmly in solidarity with members of Local 639 and invites the Teamster strikers to join the Union’s rally in Leesburg tomorrow in the shared struggle against Keolis’ exploitation.
After a month of work stoppage in Loudoun County, Keolis continues to leave riders without service and mislead Loudoun County Supervisors and public while engaging in cavalier and bad-faith negotiating tactics. The Company shows no sign of being willing to end the strike for the riding public and give its workers a fair and dignified contract. As such, Local 689 is calling on Loudoun County Government to immediately begin issuing fines on Keolis for prolonging the work stoppage.
“It is crystal clear to all of us that Keolis is trying to crush our members at any cost,” said ATU Local 689 President Raymond Jackson. “They have consistently dealt with us in bad faith at the negotiating table. They lied to the County Board. They have no respect for the working families who need this transportation. In fact, they are even trying to run the same playbook in Prince William County with Local 639. The Board has to do the right thing and fine Keolis or else it will continue to abuse the riding public and workers all over Northern Virginia and this country.”
Following months of fruitless contract negotiations and after surviving a vicious union-busting campaign by Keolis, frustrated Loudoun County bus operators, mechanics, dispatchers, and other transit workers walked off the job on Wednesday, January 11th. On November 9, 2022, they had voted over 96% in favor of authorizing a strike.
Keolis initially delayed any kind of negotiations when it gave an unacceptable and substandard offer to Union representatives on January 12th and thereafter refused to set dates to continue bargaining. Instead, it deemed its proposal the “last, best, and final” offer and falsely claimed that it could not further negotiate with the Union until January 27th. When it was wrestled back to the table by the Union and public pressure, it claimed that the latest union offer was millions more dollars apart than previously estimated but did not provide any data to justify the stance.
“Keolis has no heart,” said ATU International President John Costa. “For over a month now, Keolis has left our members and riders out in the cold. The tactics used by Keolis, at the bargaining table and with the County, has been beyond insulting. The County decided to contract out public transportation. In the very least, they can do is levy fines against Keolis for failing their workforce and the community they were hired to serve. This Valentine’s Day we’re asking Loudoun County to treat transit workers, our frontline hero members, and riders with the dignity and respect they deserve.”
ATU Local 689 stands ready to negotiate for a fair and equitable contract for its members that will guarantee living wages and decent benefits for all at Loudoun County Transit. Likewise, the Union sees the latest developments in Northern Virginia as yet another glaring example of why privatization of public transportation has been a disaster.
WHAT: Keolis Has No Heart Valentine’s Day Rally
WHO: Striking Loudoun County Transit Workers and Allies
WHEN: 5pm, Tuesday, Feb. 14
WHERE: Loudoun County Government Center at 1 Harrison St SE, Leesburg, VA)
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Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 has more than 15,000 members and retirees performing occupations within the many skilled transportation crafts for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), MetroAccess, DASH, and the DC Circulator and Streetcar among others. A member of the Amalgamated Transit Union (AFL-CIO/CLC), the largest labor organization representing transit workers in the United States and Canada, Local 689 was established on January 19, 1916. For more information please visit our website at atulocal689.org.
