(Forestville, Maryland) August 11th, 2026 – Today, ATU Local 689 members have flyered Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA) MetroBus garages and routes to let members know that it is unsafe to comply with management’s bus fare quotation policy. We will continue to encourage our members to exercise their rights and demand safe working conditions.
Back in May when this policy was hastily rolled out over union objections, Local 689 stated that this policy would lead to an increase in fare disputes. As WMATA’s own publications have repeatedly said, “More than two thirds of all bus operator assaults are the result of a fare dispute.”
“WMATA management continues to say they take worker safety seriously. WMATA continually points to the money they’ve spent on bus shields as if that should make workers grateful. It’s hard to be grateful when our members are being attacked for doing their jobs. Your partial bus shields didn’t do anything when we needed them most. We need real safety.” stated Raymond Jackson, President and Business Agent for ATU Local 689. “You have a duty to make sure every policy you issue as management does not unnecessarily put workers in harm’s way. Right now, you’re trying to collect $2.25, reversing 10 years of safety policies that were put in place because of incidents exactly like this, and our operators are told to feel safe and be grateful for a partial barrier.”
ATU Local 689 has three simple demands of Metro leadership to keep our membership safe:
-
WMATA must withdraw and reverse the new fare quotation policy (i.e. TRANS-BTPD-14-00 issued on May 12th, 2026) and revert back to the existing practice where operators only informed riders of the fare when asked.
-
Workers should be notified in a timely manner any time there is a transit worker assault along with relevant incident details for their safety.
-
Ensure that every single WMATA MetroBus has a fully enclosed (i.e. floor to ceiling, with no opportunity for passenger interference) bus barrier to protect transit workers. This includes retrofitting buses with partial or defective barriers.
Our members are proud to serve this region. We help connect people to their families, jobs, school, and businesses. No one should be worried that they might not return home safely from work.
###
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 is comprised of more than 16,000 members and retirees performing occupations within the many skilled transportation crafts for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), MetroAccess, DASH, Fairfax Connector, ART, 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.