October 2021 - 689 Informer

OCTOBER EDITION | THE 689 INFORMER

ATU 689 BUILDING POWER AT WORK!

FIGHTING TO MAKE EVERY CDL A GOLDEN TICKET TO THE MIDDLE CLASS! IN THIS EDITION: LIZ SHULER, PRO ACT, STARBUCKS WORKERS, NEW METRO LINES, NABISCO STRIKE, VIRGINIA ELECTIONS AND MORE!

A MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT & BUSINESSS AGENT RAYMOND JACKSON 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!

CONTINUED ->

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

In This Edition:

Richard Trumka Memorial Liz Shuler, New AFL-CIO President Starbucks Workers United Anatomy of an Organizing Campaign Blue-Orange-Silver Capacity Study DMV Public Transit Projects Nabisco Strike, "No Contracts, No Snacks" Fare Free Transit

MetroAccess Call Center Updates Rail Operations Systems Technicians Hiring Shortage in Transportation ZEV & Battery Electric Bus Maintenance Virginia Elections Understanding Coach & Shuttle Union Notices & Flyers WMATA COVID19 Forum

STAY INFORMED! We have a text list that includes all Local 689 members. By joining this group you'll receive updates about union events, webinars, office hour changes, opportunities to get involved, and more.

We send out a weekly email newsletter called the "E News." It includes union information along with relevant transit news in our region. It also includes updates from the local labor movement and ways that we can lend our support.

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Our website includes photos, event details, contact information for your officers and shop stewards, along with training materials for union members. If you ever have any questions, visit the website first and then call the union hall.

Local 689 has both a Facebook page and a private group. The page serves as a public facing profile allowing us to share content with riders and elected officials. You should also request to join the group which allows members to talk privately. The group is called "ATU Local 689 - Official Group." Moderators will have to approve your request to join. We are also on Twitter @ATULocal689 and Instagram - @ATULocal689.

A Life in the Labor Movement: From Coal Miner to AFL-CIO President Born in 1949 near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Richard followed in his father's footsteps and went to work in the coal mines at age 19. He later became a staff attorney to the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA). Eventually elected to the Board of Directors, he later challenged the incumbent President and won at the age of 33. In 1989, he helped organize and lead the Pittston Coal Strike after the company refused to pay into the health and retirement fund. The strike was famous for reviving community engagement in the labor movement. As President, he established relationships with the National Union of Mineworkers in South Africa, lending support to their struggle against the racist apartheid system that excluded the majority black population from power. "True labor solidarity cannot be limited by national boundaries or the color of a person’s skin. My opposition to apartheid comes not only from my personal beliefs and values, but is also deeply rooted in the history of my union." He later ran for Secretary-Treasurer and then President of the AFL-CIO. His final year was spent fighting to pass labor law reform that would empower workers and make it easy to form unions. In his honor, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) has been renamed for him.

"There is nothing stronger than the American labor movement. United, we cannot and we will not be turned aside. We'll work for it, sisters and brothers. We'll stand for it. Together. Each of us. To bring out the best in America. To bring out the best in ourselves, and each other." - Richard Trumka

New AFL-CIO President

CONTINUING THE FIGHT! Following the passing of Richard Trumka, the AFL-CIO Executive Council voted unanimously to elect Liz Shuler, the former Secretary-Treasurer, to the remainder of the term. Liz Shuler is the first woman as President of the AFLCIO. Shuler was originally an organizer with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 125 in Portland, Oregon. The AFL-CIO has 56 unions affiliates and 12.5 million members. President Shuler joined Local 689 at the Alexandria DASH bus garage and talked with workers about the importance of the PRO Act. “I believe in my bones the labor movement is the single greatest organized force for progress. This is a moment for us to lead societal transformations—to leverage our power to bring women and people of color from the margins to the center—at work, in our unions and in our economy, and to be the center of gravity for incubating new ideas that will unleash unprecedented union growth.”

Speech at the White House on Labor Day 2021 "We were...are...and always will be essential. Labor Day was brought to you by the labor movement. Our innovations...like the weekend...make life better for everyone. And to meet this extraordinary moment...we’re building a modern, inclusive labor movement. A movement in every sector and every community, with women and people of color moving from the margins, to the center. Unions are the best way to guarantee equal pay, close wage gaps and fight discrimination at work.

We create pathways to the middle class for veterans...for those who’ve been sidelined...for everyone. The power of a good, sustainable union job is life-changing. That’s why an overwhelming majority...you probably heard this last week in the Gallup poll…68 percent of Americans...and 77 percent of young people support labor unions. The highest approval ratings in over half a century. From tech to transportation to sanitation and more, working people are choosing to stand together in unions."

Starbucks Coffee

EVERY WORKER DESERVES A UNION

Last edition of The 689 Informer, we highlighted the very impressive organizing campaigns of local nonprofit workers as they fought for their union rights. Today, we will bring attention to another group of workers making history.

Starbucks is famous for a few things: their coffee, how many stores they have, and their brand of Seattle grunge aesthetics.

Instead of calling their workers employees, the company calls them partners. But that doesn't change the fact that Starbucks workers are underpaid, overworked, and exploited.

While former Starbucks CEO and multibillionaire Howard Schultz was considering a presidential run, Starbucks workers were still facing issues on the job. Starbucks had faced a few small union campaigns in the past, but nothing like this.

In August 2021, workers at 20 corporate-owned (i.e. nonfranchise) stores in upstate New York announced their intentions to form unions. They sought voluntary recognition from the company, which has attempted to force a vote by the National Labor Relations Board, giving them more time to run an anti-union campaign. The workers have sought to join Workers United, an affiliate of SEIU. This most recent campaign launched itself with a massive organizing committee, the group of workers that steer the organizing drive, signaling its strength and depth of commitment. The union campaign hopes to organize enough stores fast enough that it stretches Starbuck's anti-union response thin.

If successful, this would be a major step forward for the labor movement. Many workers across the country work for similar employers to Starbucks. The corporate & franchisee employer model has been particularly challenging for organized labor.

Often times, corporate entities like Starbucks or McDonald's get to set wage and working conditions for workers but are not considered employers under labor law.

To the right is a Q&A flyer by the union that helps to explain what workers might here from the company in the future.

BUILD MOMENTUM! Start small, grow stronger! It's often said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. It may sound like a simple lesson you'd find on a Facebook post, but it's incredibly important to understanding how almost all campaigns work. Campaign is a word that we use a lot in the labor movement, but we occasionally forget to define it for those that don't know what we're talking about. A campaign is an "organized course of action to achieve a goal." Whether it's an election campaign, a contract campaign, or an organizing campaign to form a new union, all of these are organized efforts with planned actions aimed at achieving their different goals.

An election campaign's goal is to get someone elected.

How they do that is by running a campaign that mobilizes volunteers, hires staff and raises money in order to contact voters and convince them to support you.

A contract campaign's goal is almost always to win the best possible contract. Good contracts come from having the most leverage and power once you get to the bargaining table. A good contract campaign will survey members, build a strong bargaining team, involve members in the process, inspire members to take small actions, and ultimately get them ready to strike if necessary.

A campaign to organize a new union's goal is to win recognition and a first contract. A good organizing campaign will win the trust of union supporters, inoculate supporters from the company's anti-union attacks, and prepare members to take actions necessary to win recognition through NLRB vote or voluntary recognition.

The campaign is the journey, not the destination. Many people confuse campaigns with the tactics that can you help you win a campaign. A campaign isn't the final result and it isn't the tactic itself. A good contract campaign that gets members "strike ready" is just as necessary as the strike itself to winning that good contract. We say "Start Small, Grow Stronger!" because it helps explain that a good campaign will start with simple steps that help get members involved and bought in to the campaign.

The photo above is from one of the first practice pickets at Transdev's Cinder Bed Road (CBR). At that point in the CBR campaign, we didn't know necessarily that the campaign would lead to an 85-day long strike that would win one of the biggest reversals of privatization in the history of this country, but we knew that we had to start small and build momentum. So it was decided that we should start holding "practice pickets" during bargaining sessions and at the facility.

A practice picket is a picket line, held during break times or non-work hours, where the implied threat is that the next picket line could be while workers are out on strike.

We did these, not only because they scared the company and showed we were serious, but because they helped us gauge our strength and test how many members were willing to directly challenge the company. We ran several practice pickets, some in the Courtyard of the hotel we were bargaining at and some across the street outside of the garage. Even though the practice pickets weren't enough pressure to win our members the contract they deserved these simple tests helped Local 689 build momentum for the big day when we were finally ready to strike. The practice pickets even scared the company so badly that they committed an unfair labor practice violation by by having a manager try to record who was out there (photo below). Labor Notes, an organization dedicated to building strong unions with strong members, asks every organizer to answer the following questions: What exactly do you want?

Who has the power to fix the problem?

Which tactics can work?

What are the ways you can start small and grow stronger for your contract campaign?

DECADES OF STAGNATION

In 2022, when Phase II of the Silver Line finally opens it will be the first new expansion of MetroRail since 2014 when the first phase opened. Prior to that it was another decade since the 2004 opening of the Blue Line extension to Largo Town Center. MetroRail is almost a half-century old and most of the stations and lines that make up the system were from the first 25 years of its history. Its safe to say that MetroRail's expansion has slowed even as we celebrate the future opening of stations all the way out to Loudoun County.

The reason for this phenomenon is complicated. The funding jurisdictions that make up WMATA, including Maryland, Virginia, DC, and the Federal Government, all have largely focused their attentions on running cheaper "cost-effective" transit systems over the last two decades.

Even Virginia, who fought for and invested heavily in the Silver Line (both Phase I and Phase II), has mostly turned their attention from that project to expanding their local bus systems and commuter rail (Virginia Railway Express) over additional MetroRail expansions.

Politicians are concerned about traffic congestion now, not 20 years from now. They're looking for cheaper and cheaper ways to get it done. This largely explains the "Bus Rapid Transit" (BRT) craze that's sweeping the country.

BRT is cheap, fast to build, and capable of moving large numbers of passengers, but some politicians have overhyped its performance and even recommended it on projects that really need rail.

Jurisdictions have become concerned at how expensive and how much time it takes to expand MetroRail. Silver Line Phase I was delivered on-time and on budget, largely thanks to its unionized construction firms with the building trades. Unfortunately, Rep. Barbara Comstock (longtime nemesis of Local 689 and unions everywhere) fought to ban project labor agreements from Phase II, making it almost impossible for unionized construction firms to work on the project. Silver Line Phase II is at least three years behind schedule and billions over budget.

Despite all of these concerns, elected officials, transit activists, and the WMATA Board of Directors are finally having serious discussions about expanding MetroRail again. These projects would all take at least two decades to see to completion and will have to overcome massive financial, political, and logistical hurdles, but based on the history of the last few decades, we're just happy to here these projects discussed openly again.

Maryland's Purple Line, a massive 16-mile light rail line with over 20 stations, will be built, operated, and controlled by a public-private partnership (P3), not WMATA! This is despite directly connecting to four different WMATA MetroRail stations and serving as a critical part of the rail transit in this region.

Once Phase II and Potomac Yard station opens there are no more scheduled MetroRail expansions planned at all.

Practically, this means no new MetroRail expansions for at least two decades.

EXPANDING METRO, AGAIN?

So why now? What's changed? The answer is two fold and hidden behind some very boring sounding reports and studies. The first is the Blue - Orange -Silver Line Corridor Capacity & Reliability Study and the second is the Springfield to Quantico Enhanced Public Transportation Feasibility Study.

The BOS Capacity Study began in 2019 to present potential solutions to a massive problem. WMATA needed to run more and more trains as the population of the region grew, but it was facing hard limit. All East-West traffic on the Blue, Orange, and Silver Lines has to cross the Potomac River from Foggy Bottom to Rossyln at the same point. This creates a bottleneck that limits the

BLUE LINE LOOP TO NATIONAL HARBOR

This would probably be the strongest longterm investment in rail transportation for the region. Not only would this proposal create Georgetown & National Harbor Metro stations, it would create a "loop" line with several additional downtown stations in core areas. National Harbor is one of the busiest business districts in the entire capital area. It's distance from major rail transportation has been a major issue since it was built.

Instead of the Blue Line crossing through the existing Rosslyn-Foggy Bottom Tunnel it would cross the Potomac to Georgetown.

SILVER LINE EXPRESS

This proposal would reorient the Silver Line so that it goes from Ashburn to West Falls Church but then skips it's overlapping stops with the Orange Line to travel directly into DC. Once in DC, the Silver Line would be fully split from Blue/Orange stations and create a new station at Georgetown and some northern downtown locations. WMATA then proposes the new Silver Line travelling North East in between the Green & Orange Lines before connecting to the Green Line at College Park. Major new stations would be developed at Ivy City & Hyattsville. Would expand rail service along key corridors.

SILVER LINE TO NEW CARROLLTON

This proposal would just build a new Potomac tunnel crossing from Clarendon, then moving the Silver Line north to Georgetown. A newly detached Silver Line, north of the Blue and Orange, moves North East between the Green and Orange lines until merging back to its terminus at New Carrollton station. This proposal would be slightly cheaper than the Blue Line Loop and Silver Line Express plans due to the fact that it would re-use large amounts of existing infrastructure. Proposal would still create a new crossing along with new stations.

BLUE LINE TO GREENBELT

Similar to the Silver Line to New Carrollton proposal, this would build a new Potomac River tunnel along with a newly separated Blue Line north of the Orange and Silver Lines in DC's downtown core. Once crossing the Red Line north of Union Station, the new Blue Line would move North East into Prince George's County.

The Blue Line would then add additional stations in Bladensburg, Hyattsville, and then join up with the Green and Yellow Lines by College Park. This proposal is expected to be as expensive as the Silver Line to New Carrollton proposal.

Figures, maps, and graphics from WMATA's own study.

Many thought the BOS Study would just come back encouraging a couple of "turnbacks and switchovers," but the study itself ranked that proposal poorly in regards to its ability to handle future capacity growth. Almost every new proposal included a second tunnel across the Potomac, a separated blue line going through Georgetown and Downtown DC.

ability of WMATA to run more trains. WMATA's own estimates anticipate an additional 40,000 riders by 2040 on those lines. This would make the trains overcrowded and impractical for use. Something had to be done! So WMATA commissioned a study, with many of our elected official allies like Phyllis Randall (Loudoun Board of Supervisors) serving on the study's Steering Committee.

The BOS Study was tasked with finding solutions that would: 1. Serve current and future ridership demand, 2.

Improve reliability and on-time performance, 3. Improve operational flexibility and cost-efficiency, 4. Support sustainable development and expand access to opportunity. After two years, the study announced its findings to the public and to the surprise of many it included four different substantial MetroRail expansion options that would expand rail capacity through the corridor by building a new Potomac tunnel crossing.

If we're successful, this proposal could bring hundreds of thousands of additional weekday MetroRail trips and be the largest expansion of the system in decades. When the BOS Study was released, Local 689 immediately responded stating, "We were very happy to see that WMATA is seriously considering expanding MetroRail as part of the solutions proposed in its recent BOS capacity study. We understand that it takes valuable time, energy, and resources to expand rapid rail transit, but a failure to expand the system now will only lead to future generations of this region’s residents stuck in total gridlock. We have a huge opportunity to take thousands of future cars off the road. We don’t have time for ‘wait-andsee’ approaches with climate change. Local 689 strongly supports expanding MetroRail and hopes that proposals for its expansion prioritizes the underserved parts of D.C. and Maryland.”

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY METRO? The BOS Study, further explained on the other page, was not the only MetroRail expansion proposal to see the light of day recently. The Springfield to Quantico Enhanced Public Transportation Feasibility Study recently announced that two of their proposals to the Virginia General Assembly include extending MetroRail from its southeast Virginia terminus down to Quantico in Prince William's County.

This study, was actually commissioned by Local 689's very own allies in the General Assembly, namely Del. Elizabeth Guzman, who had been pushing for MetroRail to expand to Prince William County for years. We mobilized our own members to fill out surveys and attend public hearings in support of the proposal. We hope to see more jurisdictions seriously discuss MetroRail expansion over the next few years.

SILVER LINE (WMATA) WMATA recently announced that the Silver Line would likely be transferred over to them for operational testing and opening preparations sometime in November 2021.

Currently, the Silver Line Phase II project is under the control of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) and Capital Rail Constructors. There have been multiple, repeated delays to the completion of the project.

As previously covered in the last article, Silver Line Phase II, originally slated to be privately run and operated by private contractors, will open six new Metro stations between Loudoun County and Fairfax County. This project is several years behind schedule, largely due to construction issues: cracks in concrete panels, defective rail ties, rail yard platforms that failed to meet specifications. The Department of Justice even investigated one of the subcontractors.

It is important to recognize that Silver Line Phase I was built with unionized construction firms, while Phase II was legally prohibited from using a project labor agreement (PLA). PLA's are the main tool used in the building trades to help ensure work goes to unionized construction firms. The difference in timelines and budget between Phase I and Phase II should be enough to make any politician question whether they really save any money by trying to cut labor costs on infrastructure projects.

As we finally near the end of construction of Phase II, the work will be transferred over to WMATA for inspection and preparation for the first day of revenue service.

WMATA is already preparing for this process by hiring and training new rail operators, maintenance personnel, and more. In order to provide full service on the expanded Silver Line, WMATA must hire 475 workers. WMATA is only a quarter of the way towards its goal. This work would have originally been privatized under WMATA's proposal to outsource the work. Instead, these new hires will become members of ATU Local 689. We look forward to meeting our new sisters and brothers.

PURPLE LINE (MTA)

The Purple Line is the name for the 16-mile light rail line that goes from Bethesda to New Carrollton with connections at Metro stations in between. The project will be an important connection between Prince George's and Montgomery County.

Similar to the Silver Line Phase II project, the construction has seen MASSIVE delays. The Purple Line will not be a WMATA project, but is owned by a Public-Private Partnership (P3) between the Maryland Transit Administration and private contractors. This was done in an attempt to save Maryland money on construction and operations costs, but has just resulted so far in delays while the private contractor sued the state. In 2020, the private construction contractor filed a lawsuit against Maryland seeking payment for cost-overruns. They later quit the project altogether, leaving construction sites empty while they walked off the job. A judge later approved the deal allowing them to quit, forcing the state of Maryland to find new developers and an operations firm.

We won't even know when the project is planned to open until December 2021. The new construction firm should be in place to resume building by February of 2022.

Once opened, the light rail line and two maintenance facilities will be managed by Alternate Concepts, Inc (ACI), a private transit contractor primarily based in Boston.

They also operate the Tren Urbano in Puerto Rico, the Phoenix Light Rail, the Denver Commuter Rail, the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail, and more.

It is essential that we prepare ourselves for organizing these workers! They will set the future standards for rail operators in this region! If we don't handle this carefully the Purple Line could become the model for rail expansion and all new projects will be P3s.

MAGLEV (PRIVATE) For several years, a private company known as BaltimoreWashington Rapid Rail, has been promoting a project that would build a magnetic levitation (maglev) train between DC and Baltimore. It boasts impressive travel times, claiming to be able to transport someone from Mt. Vernon Square in Washington to Cherry Hill in Baltimore in just 15 minutes. This would be possible by the use of the rail technology used in many other countries, including Japan and China, that accelerates the trains up to 300 MPH. Though Local 689 strongly supports rail projects that would make intercity travel faster, cheaper, more efficient, and more widespread, this project has countless issues. The largest among them is the proposed ticket price for passengers. Instead of the ~$7 fare charged by the MARC for travel between Baltimore and DC, the maglev company has floated fares north of $60 one-way.

This means that the train would almost exclusively cater to wealthy clients looking to travel from city to city for food and entertainment, not for the average commuter.

By doing this, it removes almost all of the benefits that would justify a $10 billion rail project. Instead of taking cars off the road during commute times, this would only take limos off the road around dinner time.

Also an issue of note, the project calls for developing a massive new parking garage right in the middle of downtown DC near the convention center. This is directly opposed to DC's current master plan for development, which seeks to expand transit over single occupancy vehicles.

At this time, both Baltimore and DC oppose the project, prompting the Federal Rail Administration to pause its review of the proposed route. But pay attention, because there is a large amount of private money invested in making this project happen!

SOUTHERN MARYLAND RAPID TRANSIT PROJECT Maryland conducted a study on the viability of rapid transit expansion from Branch Avenue's Metro station down to Waldorf, Maryland. Local 689 submitted testimony in favor of this proposal. The state considered two different options along the route: bus rapid transit and light rail. The state's own analysis found that if they developed bus rapid transit along the path it would be at full capacity by the time the project opened. For these reasons, we are fighting to make sure that the project chooses light rail over BRT. Though Local 689 supports BRT in many instances, it would be an inappropriate attempt at cost-savings over the needs of the riders in this case. We must now get the SMRT project on to the state's list of transit priority projects.

GEORGETOWN GONDOLA (PRIVATE) (Photo below) The DC government recently purchased the former gas station at the corner of M Street, Canal Street, and Whitehurst Freeway, right next to the "Exorcist Steps." Oddly enough, this property is directly adjacent to the Capital Traction Company, WMATA's corporate predecessor. This property purchase is extremely interesting because it has renewed rumors of a future Georgetown Metro station, as included in all of the BOS studies. This decision by the DC government also renewed speculation that the property will be used to build the long rumored "Georgetown-Rosslyn Gondola" project.

Several years ago, a private company planned to develop a gondola (similar to those at Ski Resorts or in Medellin, Colombia) across the Potomac. Though hardly a form of public transit, it could become a novelty tourist oriented project that helps move people across the Potomac.

RED LINE (MTA) With Governor Larry Hogan's term coming to a close in 2022, many groups are gearing up for the fight to revive the Red Line light rail project in Baltimore. Most of the Democratic candidates are committing to bringing it back.

Local 689 is continuing its partnership with the Grow Maryland Transit coalition, which is fully committed to the project. Though even if the project gets reprioritized in 2022/23, it will be years before its shovel ready again.

Luckily over 95% of the right of way is still fully intact.

There may even be a Baltimore ballot measure related to the issue in 2022.

MONORAIL (PRIVATE) Though it sounds like an episode of The Simpsons, there is a private investor promoting the idea of a monorail from Shady Grove Metro to Frederick, MD. MDOT is even conducting a feasibility study on the proposal. Though better than endless highway expansions, the proposal seems unserious and the money could be better spent.

Something must be done about the I-270 corridor! This could be done through expansions of MARC service.

NABISCO WORKERS FIGHT BACK In August, workers at a Nabisco Factory in Portland, Oregon walked off the job during contract negotiations over unfair labor practices. The workers at Nabisco are members of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union (BCTGM). Despite the strike only starting in Portland, it quickly spread to other Nabisco factories across the country and soon spread to every Nabisco factory across the country, including locations in Colorado, Georgia, Virginia, and Illinois.

Nabisco is owned by Mondelez International and now famous for its workers making snacks like: Ritz Crackers, Oreo Cookies, Teddy Grahams, Triscuits, Fig Newtons, and Wheat Thins.

Years of corporate attacks on the Nabisco workers had stretched their patience thin. Mondelez made over $5.5 billion in profits in the second quarter of 2021 alone. Their CEO received $17 million in salary alone, which is more than 550 times the average employee compensation at the company.

Many in the food production industry have been massively exploited during the last two years, with mandatory overtime becoming an industry norm during the pandemic. Workers, also with BCTGM, at Frito-Lay had been on strike over that very issue. The final straw for Nabisco workers was a proposal to slash their healthcare benefits by swapping them to a new plan. This was Nabisco's first strike since 1969.

companies even reported on the Twitter incident, helping to draw more attention to the strike. The strike lasted for 39 days and drew large amounts of public support, with many supporters pledging to boycott Nabisco products until the workers won. Delegations from Northern Virginia Labor Federation, of which Local 689 is an affiliate, went and visited the BCTGM members on strike near Richmond.

Workers reached a tentative agreement with the company around September 18th. The new agreement, later ratified by the members, included: $5,000 ratification bonus Wage increases each year for four years Blocked the company's plan to decrease healthcare benefits by switching insurance providers Unfortunately, the new agreement didn't eliminate many of the mandatory overtime practices that workers despised. But this strike showed that when workers organize and fight they have the power to overcome the arbitrary decisions of the company. "This has been a long and difficult fight for our striking members, their families and our Union. Throughout the strike, our members displayed tremendous courage, grit and determination." said BCTGM International President Anthony Shelton.

Workers rallied around the slogan "No Contract, No Snacks!" The term was later popularized into mainstream news coverage when Danny Devito, famous actor and longtime labor supporter, tweeted out the phrase along with "Support Nabisco workers striking for humane working hours, fair pay, outsourcing jobs." He then mysteriously lost his account's Twitter Verification, prompting many people online to believe that he lost it ue to his support of the striking workers. Several news Virginia Diamond, President of the Northern Virginia Labor Federation, visiting workers on strike at Richmond's Nabisco factory.

GROWING MOVEMENT TO MAKE TRANSIT FARE FREE All across the country, as systems plan for ways they can bring transit riders back to their buses and trains more and more people are open to the idea of fare free transit.

There's no such thing as a free lunch and free transit is no different. Local 689 likes to make sure that we always call it fare-free transit to emphasize that while there can be massive benefits to running a transit system where you don't need to pay to ride, these systems only run when they're well funded and have the resources they need to get riders where they need to go on public transportation.

Many public transit systems around the nation's capital all waived fare collection during the peak of the pandemic. It was a smart move that helped keep operators and riders safe. Some systems, like Alexandria DASH decided to ask, "What if we just never returned to fare collection?" As of September 1st, DASH no longer requires a fare to ride.

This was only possible with $1.5 million in additional allocations by Local 689's allies on the Alexandria City Council.

So what does all of this mean for transit workers? Does this mean tighter budgets and less money available for those that actually move the buses and trains. Not necessarily. ATU and Local 689 in particular have always fought for the strongest possible public transit systems.

We've been out there standing side by side with riders fighting to preserve their bus routes. The fight for fare free transit is part of that same fight to provide high quality public transportation to the largest number of people.

By eliminating fares, systems have made public transit a more attractive transit option. If every time you wanted to drive on a toll-free road in your car, you had to swipe your credit card and pay between $1 and $6 to use it, you'd reconsider many non-essential trips. The fare works the same way and reduces public transit ridership. Its functionally a tax on people without cars that need our services. Our jobs are to move as many people from Point A to Point B as possible, not to collect as many fares as possible. Now fare-free transit doesn't solve everything. In fact, it even causes some immediate problems for us. How do we make up the money that used to be collected in fares? The answer to that is simple. We need to fight and

organize for more taxpayer-raised funding. Roads and highways have received massive subsidies from state and federal programs. We need to partner with transit riders to get them the money both of us need to build a truly equitable, high quality public transportation system, free for all to use that need it. We're proud to see DASH lead the way with its innovative pilot program. We expect more systems will follow in its path over the coming years.

From ATU International's Editorial: "Can Public Transit Help Save the Planet?"

"Public transit, free for all, arriving on time, available around the clock, and completely powered by the wind, sun, and seas. This may seem like fantasy in 2019. But it’s no more of a fantasy than an eight-hour workday, a five-day workweek, or the right to speak your mind on the job was in 1892, when transit workers gathered in Indiana to form what would become the ATU. Yet, within three decades, Canadian and U.S. transit workers accomplished those goals.

It also seemed like a fantasy when President Carter called for Americans to unite and save their communities by ending their dependence on foreign fossil fuels. Yet, here we are, forty years later, watching a new generation of activists and elected officials champion a Green New Deal that goes further than Carter ever imagined.

It won’t be easy for transit workers to build a world in which politicians make massive investments in transit, in which all transit is zero emission, in which millions more of our neighbors take transit every day. But that challenge pales in comparison to the sacrifices and disaster that await if we dismiss these goals as fantasy. Fortunately, ATU members aren’t in this fight alone.

Nearly 19 million transit riders, and hundreds of millions of people across the continent, are increasingly ready to follow our lead."

A slide from Alexandria DASH's presentation on fare free transit presented to the riding public.

Note that there are many other considerations, not necessarily positive or negative, that need to be addressed when converting a system to fare-free transit.

DISPATCHERS FIGHT BACK

Transit in Loudoun County right now over this very issue, but the language gives us legal leverage that can help.

We previously reported on the campaign for the workers at the MetroAccess Call Center in Hyattsville as they fought for a fair contract. We're happy to say that workers there finally received a contract that granted them two 6% wage rate increases in the contract along with a ratification bonus, for a total of over 12% in increases within a year. All of this was only possible because workers stood together and not only showed the company they were serious, but they were willing to strike.

The new Collective Bargaining Agreement with MV Transportation also guarantees some workers rights to remote work, which was a major change in working conditions that had been established over the pandemic.

The union also won rights to meet privately with new hires as part of employee orientation. This is an important way to inform workers of their rights and welcome them to the union. The workers now also receive increased employer 401(k) contributions.

Though the final contract approved by members at the Call Center only lasts until June 30th, 2022. This is incredibly important because that is the collective bargaining agreement for workers at Trandev's Hubbard Road expires. That means that two of the largest MetroAccess contracts in this region will expire at the same time and allow the union to organize a strong contract campaign for both of them, increasing our leverage and strength. Instead of WMATA's long term strategy, where they attempted to divide the paratransit workers of this region into smaller and smaller private companies, we've been able to align contract dates and bring these members into the same union.

“We’ve been fighting for so long to be heard. I’m proud of what we won,” said Tonia White, an MV Call Center worker and shop leader for the union. “Turnover at the call center was very high. Many people just couldn’t handle working there and said that it wasn’t worth the pay. By striking we showed MV Transportation and this whole region that we were serious.”

So what else was in the new agreement? Local 689 won a successorship clause. Many of our members in the public sector might not be familiar with these, but they're extremely important for our private sector sisters and brothers. Successor clauses usually say something like, "hall be binding upon the successors and assigns the parties hereto," followed by additional language saying it can't be modified. MV Transportation had fought this language and originally refused to agree to a contract that had anything like it.

Oddly enough, we even have similar language in the WMATA-L689 Collective Bargaining Agreement where its clear that the language is binding not just on WMATA but its "successors and assigns." So why do we need this language? These private contractors, who carry out WMATA's bidding, frequently change hands. Companies win contracts and try to set up shop but the workers stay in place. With good, solid successorship language we're able to force the new contractor into adopting the existing contract language like nothing ever changed.

That's not to say companies will never fight us on successorship language. We have a battle with Keolis

“Let this be a warning to all MetroAccess contractors in this region. Workers are sick and tired of being mistreated, disrespected, overworked, and underpaid.

There isn’t a worker shortage in this country. There is a shortage of workers that are willing to put up with poverty wages,” said Raymond Jackson, President Business Agent for ATU Local 689. “This is just the beginning.

Paratransit workers have been left behind for too long.

Our union won’t stop until we’ve turned paratransit jobs into a pathway to the middle class. Our paratransit workers, whether they’re dispatchers, reservationists, or drivers, are an essential part of keeping this region moving forward and it's time their paychecks reflected that.”

We know another fight lies ahead of us! Let's get ready!

WHAT'S A RAIL OPERATIONS SYSTEMS TECHNICIAN?

To answer the previous question: a jack of all trades, but someone that wasn't paid like they should be.

ATU Local 689 represents a dozen or so "Rail Operations Systems Technicians" at WMATA. Despite OPEIU Local 2 representing most of the Rail Operations Control Center workers and the information technology classifications for the Authority, we at Local 689 have some members that through quirks of history are required to be highly skilled in both physical "wrench turning" maintenance work and computer systems administration.

If this all sounds like a lot to expect of one person, we'd agree but that was just another day in the life for a WMATA Rail Operations Service Technician (ROST). After years of losing these ROST workers to the private sector where they could make way more money, WMATA worked with ATU Local 689 to give these workers a title bump and an important wage rate increase. After researching the skills necessary to be an ROST, Local 689 argued that we should compare these skills to positions across the country both in the public and private sector. Local 689 isn't as familiar with information technology positions so we even contacted others in the industry to get an idea of what comparable positions might even be titled.

WMATA was looking for candidates "responsible for troubleshooting, testing, installing, diagnosing, and maintaining a real-time - critical (24/7) computer system, including peripherals and subsystems which support the large scale mass transit operational control system, network connected equipment, and data files" all while also maintaining the maintenance ability to repair computer equipment all throughout the rail system on their own. WMATA was looking for unicorns in the current job market!

QUICK FACTS:

TITLE CHANGE 22.9% WAGE RATE INCREASE INCLUSION IN LONGEVITY PROGRESSION

We learned that the ROST positions were comparable skillsets to senior systems administrators, with more practical and hands-on experience. With this in mind we rejected WMATA's original offer for a 10% raise and told them we'd send over our own proposal shortly. Our research found that similar positions were paid at least six figures. We even discovered that similar positions were opening up at transit authorities across the country.

After finalizing the deal, Rail Operations Systems Technicians have been reclassified as Rail Application Support and Maintenance Specialists (RASM) and will receive a 22.9% wage increase. These positions, despite WMATA's wish to exclude them from the Collective Bargaining Agreement's Longevity Pay progression, we were able to remove them from that exclusion. This is important because several of WMATA's top paying maintenance positions, like EL/ES, are excluded.

All said and done, these workers will finally receive pay comparable to what they might make elsewhere, while continuing to receive union protections and a pension.

We'll make sure to solidify these gains in future collective bargaining agreements.

SO WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? What makes ROST/RASM special? As transit systems become more and more dependent on computer technology, Local 689 needs to make sure that we represent these workers as well.

Imagine if 100 years ago, Local 689 said "We're a horsedrawn streetcar union, we're not interested in these new electric streetcars." Or even 50 years later, "We're an electric streetcar union, we don't represent bus." The transit companies, which were all private back then, could have then used new technology as a weapon against the workers, slowly replacing the unionized workers with non-union workers. Local 689 even had to sign an agreement with WMATA at one point to ensure we represented the rail operations workers. It's the same reason that longshore unions represent crane operators that unload cargo from boats and not just the workers that used to do it by hand and hook!

By representing and fighting for good working conditions for these high-tech positions, we ensure that important jobs within WMATA don't fall outside of Local 689. What does the future hold for high-tech transit jobs? Who knows! But one thing is clear, we need to represent transit workers including high-tech ones that hold leverage over the transit systems we move in order to win strong contracts for all of our members.

MORE LEVERAGE FOR TRANSIT WORKERS For the last few years there has been a shortage of drivers with commercial drivers licenses (CDL). Even several years back, companies were complaining that the shortage of drivers with CDLs was putting them in a challenging position.

The pandemic has exploded this problem and led to historic situations for those in the transit and paratransit industries.

Prince George's County has been complaining for years that it was hard to find enough school bus drivers. In 2019, PG School Board Chair Thornton said, "“This is regionally and nationally how our employees, in this case, bus drivers, compare and if we want to keep them and not let them go to WMATA, then we’re going to have to pay them at this level." It seems like that advice wasn't necessarily taken to heart because as of early September, the County

was over 190 drivers short at the start of school. But these problems aren't limited to just school bus, they're all across our industries!

Paratransit workers at Transdev's Hubbard Road have been bidding on schedules with massive amounts of overtime. This prompted us to directly bargain with Transdev as to whether we could create bonuses to workers that had been taking on so much additional overtime. During the worst parts of Hubbard Road's short staffing, they had to hire multiple full-time subcontractors that they paid rates comparable to what WMATA bus operators make.

All across the region, companies are offering massive hiring and sign-on bonuses in order to find the workers they need to keep their companies moving. Here is just a small sampling of transportation companies around DC offering bonuses (as of early September).

Marten Transport - $3,500 Waste Management - $5,000 Venezia Transport - $3,000 Royalties Logistics - $2,000 Republic Services - $2,500 AAA Mid Atlantic - $1,500 Diamond Transportation - $1,000 Transdev NA - $4,000 Frederick County - $1,000 Flippo Construction Company, Inc - $4,000 Amazon - $3,100 HD Supply - $2,000 It's worth noting that the companies with higher starting wages, typically offered lower hiring bonuses. This is likely because it was easier for them to find and retain workers.

A Facebook ad from Transdev looking to hire workers for their Paratransit operations. Note that the ad offers $4,000 sign-on bonus that will be paid out over 18 months.

A worker "shortage" typically means more leverage for the existing workers and we should never forget this. These "shortages" would likely not exist if it wasn't for the way they previously mistreated, underpaid, and exploited their workers. Many of the same companies begging people to come in for job interviews are the same companies that laid people off during the height of the pandemic. Many of the same companies wondering where all their workers went are the same companies that tried to force people to work in unsafe conditions during the pandemic for wages that can't support a family! You have leverage as a transit worker, make sure to work through your union to get what you deserve!

Administration to create a new National Transit Workforce Training Center. This entity would help transit agencies hire, train, recruit and retain workers.

Particularly of interest to Local 689, is the TLC's work establishing labor-management joint apprenticeship programs. When most union workers think of apprenticeships, they think of the building trades: carpenters, electricians, plumbers, etc. But labormanagement apprenticeships can be used in almost any industry and they're an easy way to ensure that the union has a voice in ensuring that our members get everything they need to be successful. As for the company, they get a well-trained workforce that is more likely to stick around.

There are also large federal programs right now offering money to large employers like WMATA to invest in joint labor-management apprenticeships.

Survey by Transportation Learning Center, our partners in the fight for quality retraining of diesel bus mechanics on new zero-emmisions vehicles.

BATTLE OVER BATTERY ELECTRIC BUSES

We've previously discussed in The 689 Informer, about how many of our surrounding jurisdictions and the federal government are all pushing for only purchasing zeroemissions vehicles, primarily Battery Electric Buses. We also mentioned that we believed WMATA was unlikely to withstand pressure from elected officials and environmental activists demanding that they speed up their fleet transition. We also know that almost all of the existing battery electric bus companies sell exclusive maintenance packages covered by long-term warranties that would put our members in a challenging position.

So what can we do? We know that we need to find a way to re-train our existing diesel bus mechanics in a systematic way so that they're able to continue working on the buses of the future. But how can we do this when there are thousands of diesel bus mechanics in the region and only a handful of them are trained on electric buses.

We have been working closely with the Transportation Learning Center (TLC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to building "labor-management training partnerships that improve organizational performance, expand workforce knowledge, skills and abilities, and promote career advancement." ATU International President John Costa currently serves as the Chair of their Board of Directors.

The TLC recently received a massive federal grant from the Department of Transportation's Federal Transit

We've sent over a notice to WMATA after working with the TLC informing them that we'd like to meet again in the future to discuss whether it would be feasible to create some type of bus maintenance apprenticeship program. Both Local 689 and WMATA are in the same boat on this problem. WMATA has thousands of bus maintenance workers not trained on the latest technology and the Authority doesn't want to be beholden to the bus manufacturers every time it has a breakdown. We at Local 689 are interested in doing whatever we can to ensure that keep bus maintenance jobs, but futureproof them for whatever new technologies are developed in public transportation.

We'll keep members posted on how discussions with WMATA go. We are confident that many of our environmental allies that have promoted the push to transition WMATA's electric bus fleet are some of the same organizations that would help us win a comprehensive bus maintenance apprenticeship program.

TRANSIT EMPLOYEES' HEALTH AND WELFARE PLAN

Sisters and Brothers, Here is the bottom line, in Virginia, our labor movement is heavily committed to championing democracy – in the workplace and at the ballot box. We are in one of the most important elections where we will cast our ballots for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and all 100 seats of the House of Delegates. This election will be the determining factor for labor law in Virginia, not just for the next few years, but for generations to come, and it is your vote that will make all the difference.

Our union voices will tip the scale in this election, and we hold all the power to keep up the momentum of positive labor law reform in the Commonwealth. Now is the time to make sure we are electing pro-labor candidates that don’t just hear our voices, but also ensure that what they hear is what will get done.

Everything is at stake this election because unions and our protections and rights are being attacked.

Worker protections are at stake. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the importance of the workforce and acknowledgement of the hard work and sacrifices workers make day in and day out to ensure that we can live to fight another day. It also highlighted the inadequacies and ill treatment too many workers face. This election, we can make real change. We have an opportunity to improve workplace safety, workers’ compensation, paid family and medical leave, fair scheduling, retirement security and a whole host of protections working people deserve.

The freedom to join together is at stake. As union members, we understand the power of the benefits and livelihood that a union contract can provide. There are still many Virginians who don’t have collective bargaining rights and a voice on the job. We need to add public sector employees to the list of workers who have those rights and overturn right-to-work laws, and we must elect labor champions who will make this happen.

Raising wages is at stake. Virginia has to improve on wages and wage equity. We need elected leaders who

believe that anyone who works for a living should be able to provide for their family, with one job. Virginia must continue to raise its minimum wage so it reaches $15/hour and then ensure it keeps up with cost of living.

To protect Virginia’s jobs, we also need standards that keep our work in state and increase local hiring programs on publicly funded projects.

There is so much at stake right now, and we must elect the leaders who support our families, our interests, and our unions. Join us in voting.

How you vote is a personal decision, but I hope you’ll join me this election in supporting our union endorsed candidates Terry McAuliffe for Governor, Hala Ayala for Lieutenant Governor, Mark Herring for Attorney General and our endorsed candidates for House of Delegates as they are the best choice for working families this November.

In Solidarity,

Keith Bullock

Financial Secretary Treasurer

Candi King – HD 2 Kathy Tran – HD 42 Wendy Gooditis – HD 10 Mark Sickles – HD 43 Danica Roem – HD 13 Paul Krizek – HD 44 Douglas Ward – HD 18 Elizabeth Bennett-Parker – HD 45 Joshua Cole – HD 28 Charniele Herring – HD 46

Annette Hyde – HD 30 Patrick Hope – HD 47 Elizabeth Guzman – HD 31 Richard “Rip” Sullivan – HD 48 David Reid – HD 32 Alfonso Lopez – HD 49 Kathleen Murphy – HD 34 Michelle Lopes-Maldonado – HD 50 Mark Keam – HD 35 Briana Sewell – HD 51

Kenneth Plum – HD 36 Luke Torian – HD 52 Kaye Kory – HD 38 Marcus Simon – HD 53 Vivian Watts – HD 39 Karrie Delaney – HD 67 Dan Helmer – HD 40 Irene Shin – HD 86 Eileen Filler-Corn – HD 41 Suhas Subramanyam – HD 87

A RACE TO THE BOTTOM A coach bus just refers generically to high-floor buses primarily used for intercity travel, longer-distance commuter travel, or private charters. A shuttle bus is a form of transportation that primarily moves passengers between two different places with limited stops, often for private employers or destinations like airports or hotels.

So why talk about Coach and Shuttle together? It's because of the way all of these different companies operate in the same ecosystem of private contractors bidding on contracts. In our region we have: Academy (Non-Union) Martz Gold Line (ATU 689) Dillon's / Coach USA (ATU 689) Keller Transportation, Inc. (Non-Union) United Bus Charter (Non-Union) Washington DC Bus Charter (Non-Union) First Priority Trailways (Non-Union) Haymarket Transportation (Non-Union) Mclean Bus Service (Non-Union) 3-L Bus Services (Non-Union) Eyre Bus, Tour & Travel (Non-Union) Metropolitan Shuttle (Non-Union RMA Worldwide Chauffeured (Non-Union) DC MOTOR COACH LLC (Non-Union) Reston Limousine (Non-Union) LAZ Parking (Non-Union) And many more!

These companies collectively have hundreds of workers, but none of them in any massive concentration. All of these companies are in cutthroat competition with each other to win lucrative contracts. These contracts can come in many different forms: Large lucrative commuter bus route contracts like those given by the Maryland Transit Administration.

Large private employers like National Children's Hospital who pay outside shuttle companies to move passengers from Metro stations to their campus.

Government contracts for shuttle work like those at NIH or military bases in the region.

Private charters focused on DC tourism & school trips.

The core feature of the coach and shuttle industry in our area is instability and constant change. One company might surge to hundred of workers as they win large contracts only to shrink dramatically a few years later as that work gets dished out to their rival.

These features mean that employers are often working with their clients and competition to ensure that workers never are able to get ahead.

Raise the wages and benefits at just one coach and shuttle company? Now that company just loses out on the contracts that pay their wages. Win union recognition at one company but not the rest? More companies could be created overnight to dilute the unionized share of the market.

Problems like these are akin to the arcade game "Whac-AMole," where every time you tackle the problem in one location it just pops up somewhere else. Some of these "Whac-A-Mole" contractors are really just pop-up operations that go from contract to contract as they win bids. Some don't even have an office in a region until they win a contract. So how do you organize when these are the conditions?

A DIFFERENT INDUSTRY BUT SIMILAR LESSONS

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. This similarly raised the wages of all minimum wage employees at all the airport contractors, once again avoiding the issue of only raising wages at one employer.

In 2012, a variety of SEIU locals united behind a campaign to organize the subcontracted airport workers around the country. These positions had previously been solidly middle-class jobs that were hired directly by airlines like Delta, Southwest, or American. The airline companies soon realized they could save money and increase profits if they contracted out the work to firms like Eulen, ABM, and Huntleigh. These contractors were then responsible for most of the baggage handling, wheelchair attendant work, cabin cleaning, passenger assistance representatives, check-point screeners, fuelers, and more.

Through organizing the whole airport's contractors they were able to force minimum contract standards, raising the whole floor for everyone. The degree of change for the lives of these workers is staggering. At BWI, workers went from $8.50 will soon see their wages rise to $17 in five years. Now they have union contracts for thousands of airport workers and can continue the fight!

What used to be a middle-class union job became a nonunion minimum wage job. Some of the companies were so unscrupulous that they even paid below the minimum wage and claimed that their employees were "tipped workers" despite it being against the rules for their workers to ask for tips. Past organizing attempts at unionizing a single company had failed. If you increased the wages at one contractor, that company would raise their prices above that of their competitors and lose out on the next time their contract was up. Those workers would then get laid off, the union would dissolve, and workers would be hired by the other companies at the airport. Building a union in these conditions was hard work, like building a house on sand!

SEIU 32BJ, one of the SEIU locals in our region, repeated the lessons that had been learned in their past "Justice for Janitors" campaign that faced similar obstacles. They had to get almost wall-to-wall union membership before they could start negotiating large "master contracts" that raised the wages for all of their members across the board. No longer would they have to worry about contractors losing out on contracts if everyone had to raise their prices at the same time. But they knew union members wouldn't just wait and wait for the day where they finally saw wage increases, their members were largely new immigrants in tough financial situations. Many members slept overnight at the airports because it was too expensive to go home.

While SEIU continued to organize the rest of the airport into the union, they fought for working condition improvements through exercising members rights on the job. They also won job security so that when contractors change, the workers stay in place. They also applied political pressure to raise the airport's minimum wage by organizing a worker campaign that targeted the

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR LOCAL 689?

Local 689 represents several hundred coach and shuttle workers for four different companies (Martz Gold Line, Dillon’s COACH USA, Battle's Transportation, R&L Logistics Management). Most of these company's bread and butter is MTA Commuter Bus route contracts into DC from the surrounding suburbs. As it currently stands the wages and working conditions are all beneath that of WMATA and vary wildly between different contractors.

Most of the coach and shuttle in our region is non-union.

We must look to the examples of other unions before us that have helped take chaotic "Whac-A-Mole" contractor situations and turn them into environments for sustainable union careers. Not only SEIU, but our own history of how we at ATU transformed private streetcar company market chaos into a neat and orderly public transportation system.

This fight is extremely important! Coach and shuttle companies operate in the same job market as fixed-route bus operators. WMATA routinely contracts out work that should be public sector WMATA work and gives it to lowbid private contractors. Their rationale? It's cheaper! The same thing that MTA says when it privatizes their commuter bus routes. And many of these coach and shuttle jobs should be in the public sector as well!

Commuter bus routes are a public service and should have the benefits that come with public service, like security and a pension, not private sector precarity!

So how do we tackle a problem like this? There's no path other than to organize all of the transit workers of this region, win strong contracts, and use our leverage to expand public transit until the day that no one moves a bus or train in this region that isn't earning a family sustaining wage with a pension.

COVID19 FORUM HELD W/ WMATA LEADERSHIP ATU Local 689 organized a forum with WMATA's senior leadership, including: General Manager Paul Wiedefeld, Dr. Amy Espy-Smith, and Theresa Impastato. Local 689 offered members opportunities to submit questions that were collected and then presented to the panelists for their response. The most common questions were variations of the following: 1. With the COVID vaccine greatly helping to prevent most serious COVID cases but not preventing catching it or transmitting it why is WMATA not testing all workers?

2. The FTA extended the federal mask mandate on public transportation. Many passengers are currently riding public transit without wearing their masks.

What can be better done to enforce the current mask mandate policy without placing transit workers in harms way?

3. What happens with WMATA’s contractors for vaccines and testing? Are they being held to these standards? What happens if a contractor contracts COVID? 4. If my child gets sent home from school from catching COVID or their school going virtual, am I able to use EFMLA? 5. Why doesn’t WMATA accept a COVID antibody test for its testing policy?

6. Why require a negative COVID test once a week and not a shorter or longer period of time?

7. What about natural immunity? If I have already tested positive for COVID and recovered why am I not considered vaccinated?

Following the filming of the original webinar, Local 689 scheduled a livestream for members to ask additional questions of the WMATA representatives. We were joined by over 120 members live for the forum and went through dozens of questions.

If you missed the livestream, the video should be posted for all to see on our Facebook page. Any additional questions that members have about WMATA's COVID vaccine and mandatory testing policy should reach out to their union representatives.

To learn more about the COVID vaccine, we encourage you to visit the Center for Disease Control website. If you are looking to find a vaccine you can use the search tool at:

www.vaccines.gov/search

ATU LOCAL 689 CORRECTION NOTICE: The 2021 Union Calendar incorrectly lists the General Election date as Wednesday, December 8th. That is not the correct date per the Local Bylaws.

Local Bylaws of ATU Local 689 11(a): "All elections shall be by secret ballot and by the plurality system on the first Wednesday in December..."

The correct date for the General Election is Wednesday, December 1st, 2021. This notice will be reposted in future publications from the Election Committee.

Advised by the Election Committee - 9/27/21

ATU LOCAL 689

NOTICE: ATU Local 689

General Election Day

Wednesday, December 1st, 2021

Polls open at 5:00 AM Polls close at 6:00 PM

Further details, including voting locations, process for nominations, and list of positions up for election, will be mailed to members in a General Election Edition of the Local 689 Newsletter.

"Every member in good standing shall be eligible to be a candidate to hold any office or position described in Section 7 hereof, provided they have been a member in continuous good standing in Local Union 689 for a period of at least (2) years next preceding the day of the nomination meeting. " - Local Bylaws of ATU Local 689 Section 8(a)

Advised by the Election Committee - 9/27/21

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