Workers Set to Vote on Contract on Saturday
Atlanta – In a major step forward for working families in Atlanta and for better public transit for the Atlanta region, Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 732 and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) have reached a tentative agreement.
“This is a victory not only for MARTA workers, but for all working families and our community,” said Local 732 President Curtis Howard. “Transit workers, riders, symphony musicians, fast food workers, clergy, union and non-union folks united together to fight for respect, dignity and mobility for all. And today we’ve taken a big step in the right direction.”
The tentative agreement, which will be voted on by MARTA workers on Saturday, November 15, follows a dramatic couple of months in the dispute between MARTA and its employees. MARTA workers ran an intense campaign, rallying with then locked-out ASO symphony workers, running advertisements in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, demonstrating outside of MARTA HQ and the law offices of MARTA Board Chair Robbie Ashe, engaging riders, and running a radio ad campaign on stations across Atlanta.
The potential contract deal comes on heels of two transit victories last week. The MARTA Board voted to table their decision to outsource paratransit in response to a cost-saving alternative plan proposed by a coalition of MARTA workers, riders with disabilities, and transit advocates. And Clayton County citizens overwhelmingly voted last Tuesday to pass a referendum to expand MARTA back to the county.
“November has been a good month for transit riders, working people and the communities of Atlanta,” Howard continued. “We have truly shown what can be accomplished when working together. But there’s more work to be done and we remain committed to working toward that goal for the future of our community.”