The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) board gave final approval to a new, four-year agreement between the agency and its largest union, ATU Local 689, which represents approximately 8,000 employees, including all bus and train operators, station managers, and hundreds of other maintenance and support positions.
The result of months of direct collective bargaining between ATU L689 President Raymond Jackson and Metro GM Paul J. Wiedefeld, the agreement includes a 2.4% annual average wage increase for ATU Local 689 employees and, for the first time in WMATA history, incentivizes ridership growth with an additional 1% wage increase in years when the agency’s ridership improves 2% or more over the previous year. The current defined benefit pension program is preserved for current and new employees under the agreement, while increasing employee contributions to retiree health coverage.
