(Forestville, Maryland) September 30th, 2021 – We share many of the concerns that panelists raised about WMATA’s slow pace of transition to an all-electric bus fleet. We believe that public transportation agencies have the potential to be real leaders in the fight against climate change and to reduce our carbon emissions. Our members are many of the people most directly impacted by the negative side effects of diesel bus fumes. But today, we find our union wondering why panelists at the hearing rarely even mentioned the thousands of workers that keep the bus fleets of this region moving. 

We have massive concerns about the impact that fleet transition plans will have on our members that work in bus maintenance. We have thousands of members that have built their entire careers and plans for their lives around proudly serving the riding public as diesel bus mechanics. What happens to them? This hearing provided no answers or solutions.

• Many electric bus manufacturers lock their clients into exclusive maintenance contracts where essential bus repair tasks can only be done by the manufacturers themselves. Will WMATA commit to retraining its existing diesel bus workforce on the latest technology? 

• Will WMATA refuse to enter into contracts with vendors that refuse to provide the information necessary for routine maintenance and workforce training? 

• What personal protective equipment will need to be purchased and workers trained on in order to keep them safe when dealing with high-voltage components on buses?

• How can you hold a hearing on speeding up bus fleet electrification and not hear from the workforce that will actually be responsible for implementing this? 

Instead, the Council has decided to spend its time on a hearing that does nothing to actually address the issues necessary to speed up electrification. WMATA’s plans will not only impact the workers at WMATA, but the transit workers at local bus systems around the region. 

These are issues we have thought about and would have been happy to share our findings with the DC Council. We believe that transit riders, authorities, and our members are best served by creating a joint labor management apprenticeship program for bus maintenance. Such a program would not only help transition our existing diesel bus mechanics and prepare them for work on the fleets of the future, but it could serve as a pathway for young workers looking for a career in the green economy. Joint apprenticeship programs handle workforce retraining issues in a labor-friendly manner that has been shown to increase worker retention. Federal money is already available to fund workforce training efforts like this. The Federal Transit Administration even signaled their support for such approaches with their $5 million grant award to create a national Transit Workforce Center, that will help develop programs just like the one we described. 

This issue is too important to be ignored as a secondary consideration in WMATA’s electrification. 

 ###

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 is comprised of more than 13,000 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.