Press Release: ATU Local 689 Reaches Tentative Agreement with Transdev at Cinder Bed Road

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: Brian Wivell
Phone: 240-584-6720  

(Forestville, MD) January 14th, 2020 – ATU Local 689 is proud to announce that we have reached a tentative agreement with Transdev that covers the workers at WMATA's Cinder Bed Road Facility. The workers have been on strike for over 82 days -- the longest transit strike in this region's history. The Cinder Bed workers' brave stand against privatization inspired messages of support and solidarity from across the globe. The tentative agreement includes improved healthcare and retirement plans along with substantial wage increases.

"Our members at Cinder Bed Road sacrificed for months to ensure that public transit careers were steady paths to the middle class. With this tentative agreement it solidifies that transit companies can't cut costs at the expense of workers' ability to feed their families,” said Raymond Jackson, President and Business Agent of ATU Local 689.  “Our members will have an opportunity to vote on the tentative agreement later this week. We'd also like to thank the elected officials that lent the power of their office to make sure that these workers got the fair contract they deserve."

“I am very proud of our sisters and brothers at Cinder Bed Road. Their courage, solidarity, determination and resolve on the picket lines lead to the agreement that should end this strike,” said ATU International President John Costa. “They also are the heroes in halting the ill-advised march to transit privatization in the DMV. We’d also like to thank our riders, union allies, community advocates and elected officials for their unwavering support. This shows that Together We Fight, Together We Win!”

Further details about the tentative agreement will be released following the vote by our members. The strike will continue until members have approved the agreement.

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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 Streetcar. 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.