Press Release: Transdev Sticks Head in the Sand, Won’t Bargain Until Next Week
(Forestville, Maryland) August 2nd, 2022 – After starting our strike on Monday morning our members have held strong in their demands for Transdev to bargain in good faith, stop its delaying tactics, and agree to a fair contract with better wages and benefits. We hoped to share good news with the riding public today about this morning’s negotiations. Unfortunately, Transdev came to the table for fifteen minutes and made no changes to its last proposal. Its proposed wage increases are still beneath what they already offer in other jurisdictions despite the sky-high cost of living in this region. We hoped that Transdev would come to its senses and bargain in good faith. We now know that the company never had any intention of bargaining seriously. It strung us along and waited until our contract expired and then immediately changed all of its proposals to insulting, low-ball, one year agreements. Transdev won’t meet with us again to bargain until next Tuesday. We’re available to meet anytime, anyplace to agree to a fair deal with Transdev or WMATA that could end this strike.
We hope that everyone understands that WMATA and Transdev are trying to repeat their “Cinder Bed Playbook”. In 2019, when Transdev held out an entire MetroBus garage on strike for 85 days because of its refusal to bargain fairly, WMATA pretended it had nothing to do with the issue. WMATA publicly ignored the situation for months and denied any involvement to the press. They claimed that this was a private dispute between a third party and their contractor. The same thing appears to be happening now with the exact same contractor. Transdev is even using the exact same union busting law firm they had during the Cinder Bed Strike. We also hope to address WMATA’s claim that service has not been disrupted. That couldn’t be further from the truth. We know that over 116 MetroAccess routes were canceled on just the first day of the strike alone.
We know our demands are reasonable. We will continue this strike however long it takes to win a fair contract.
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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.
