Today marks 36 days of strike for ATU Local 689 Metrobus workers employed by Transdev at WMATA's Cinder Bed Road garage. The unions is scheduled to return to the bargaining table with Transdev on December 4-5.
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"We are suspending both the Cinder Bed Road and WMATA pickets for the holiday, in order to give everyone some much needed rest and family time before we embark on the next chapter of escalation in this campaign," reports ATU's Todd Brogan. "We will have volunteer sentries checking in on the facility to make sure Transdev doesn’t try any funny business."

Strikers will be back on the line at 5:00 a.m. Monday, December 2, and will continue WMATA pickets then as well. “This Thanksgiving, we should be thankful for the strikers at Cinder Bed Road Bus Garage and all workers who put everything on the line to stand up for economic and social justice," said ATU President John A. Costa. “And, if you can, one of the ways you can express your gratitude for all of the things you’re thankful for this Thanksgiving is to “pay it forward” in the form of a contribution to the ATU Cinder Bed Road Bus Garage strikers.
They’re fighting for all of us. And we know that “Together We Fight, Together We Win!”
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Brogan also reports:

·        Thanks to Rev. Graylan Hagler and ATU International, all strikers are going home with a turkey or a gift card to help their families over the holiday.
·       On Tuesday, nearly two dozen strikers joined DC Jobs with Justice and the Metro Labor Council to do DC Council drop ins at the Wilson Building. They talked to most of the Councilmembers or their staff directly. Elissa Silverman even convened a hallway meeting with them. Both Silverman and R. White made important remarks during the oversight hearing for the incoming DC principal director to the WMATA Board. Both also sit on the Facilities and Procurement Committee, which has oversight of WMATA. We’re asking them to send a letter to the agency.
·       At the Fairfax Connector, where ATU Local 1764 is bargaining with Transdev, the company is trying to divide and conquer members, dangling some increases in front of them while ignoring all of the other issues on the table. Members aren’t having it, and are committed to standing together and in solidarity with Local 689 at Cinder Bed Road until everyone can go to work with a fair and just contract. The Connector contract expires this Saturday, November 30.
·       If you know people who take a bus in Fairfax County, help them start making alternate arrangements for the first week of December.
·       If Connector does indeed strike next week, we will be sextupling the number of workers on strike and quadrupling the number of picket locations, so we will need all the support we can get.
·       Best media pieces on the strike this week are this Washington Post piece profiling a few key strikers, this Inequality.org piece on the big picture, and this WAMU piece on our Board action.
·       Thanks to each and every one of you who have helped us hold the line this long. We are going to win this thing.
 
Here’s how you can help:
·       Donate $: http://bit.ly/cinderbedstrike
·       Donate : http://bit.ly/cinderbedmeals
·       Picket in VA (daily): https://facebook.com/events/2310195405775260/
·       Picket in DC (weekdays): https://facebook.com/events/553753515478162/
·       Link up with DC JWJ to help with solidarity direct actions: [email protected].
·       Firewood is still key as the weather gets cold. We’ve got two burn barrels now, and need kindling and logs.
·   Call out @wmata on Twitter and @metroforward on Facebook with words of support for the strikers. Remember to tag @atulocal689 and @atucomm on Twitter or @atulocal689group on Facebook so we can repost.

After more than two months of contract negotiations with both Giant and Safeway, UFCW Local 400 reports that "neither company has put an offer on the table that provides us wages we can live on, schedules we can depend on, healthcare we can afford, and a retirement we can count on."

"We have seen negotiations in New England, California, Oregon, and Washington all extend for months because of the greed of these employers, and unfortunately, that is what we are facing here," Local 400 adds. "They won fair contracts in all of those places by keeping the pressure on over the long haul. And that is what we are going to do here." Dozens of actions are planned for Sunday and Tuesday, as local shoppers prepare for Thanksgiving on Thursday. See below for details.

"Securing pension benefits for retirees and everyone currently working is complicated, and we will not be rushed into a bad deal," says Local 400. "All we are asking for is our fair share of the profits and success our hard work has created over the years. What is  standing between us and the fair deal we deserve is the greed of these companies. The only way we are going to get what we deserve is by keeping the pressure on."

Sunday, November 24, 2019
12:00 p.m. Noon – 2:00 p.m.
Giant #778 (41 W Lee Hwy, Warrenton, VA)
Safeway #1019 (1624 Belle View Blvd, Alexandria, VA)
Safeway #1276 (6500 Piney Branch Rd NW, Washington, DC)
Safeway #1283 (8646 Richmond Hwy, Alexandria, VA)
Safeway #1365 (9525 Braddock Rd, Fairfax, VA)
Safeway #1417 (9881 VA-193, Great Falls, VA)
Safeway #1443 (8785 Branch Ave, Clinton, MD)
Safeway #1956 (14939 Shady Grove Rd, Rockville, MD)
Safeway #2713 (12410 Fairwood Pkwy, Bowie, MD)
Safeway #2797 (3333 Spartan Rd, Olney, MD)
Safeway #2912 (1855 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC)
Safeway #3250 (3526 King St, Alexandria, VA)

3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Giant #125 (12051 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD)
Giant #229 (8074 Rolling Rd, Springfield, VA)
Giant #231 (2932 Chain Bridge Rd, Oakton, VA)
Giant #2317 (18140 Village Mart Dr, Olney, MD)
Giant #325 (10790 Town Center Blvd, Dunkirk, MD)
Giant #347 (10480 Campus Way S, Largo, MD)
Giant #378 (1345 Park Rd NW, Washington, DC)
Giant #741 (5469 Mapledale Plaza, Dale City, VA)
Giant #748 (2901-11 S Glebe Rd, Arlington, VA)
Giant #760 (6800 Richmond Hwy, Alexandria, VA)
Safeway #1801 (189 W Lee Hwy, Warrenton, VA)
Safeway #2892 (1100 4th St SW, Washington, DC)

Tuesday, November 26, 2019
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Giant #780 (3480 S Jefferson St, Falls Church, VA)
Giant #783 (6011 Burke Centre Pkwy, Burke, VA)
Safeway #1285 (6130 Rose Hill Dr, Alexandria, VA)
Safeway #1570 (2304 Hunter’s Woods Plaza, Reston, VA)
Safeway #1579 (19718 Germantown Rd, Germantown, MD)
Safeway #1938 (40 Shining Willow Way, La Plata, MD)
Safeway #2883 (6118 Arlington Blvd, Falls Church, VA)
Safeway #2892 (1100 4th St SW, Washington, DC)
Safeway #4218 (437 S King St, Leesburg, VA)
Safeway #4832 (5545 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC)
Safeway #4872 (6235 Oxon Hill Rd, Oxon Hill, MD)
Safeway #870 (10101 New Hampshire Ave, Silver Spring, MD)

4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Giant #232 (5870 Kingstowne Blvd, Alexandria, VA)
Giant #233 (7235 Arlington Blvd, Falls Church, VA)
Giant #304 (3297 Crain Hwy, Waldorf, MD)
Giant #350 (11221 New Hampshire Ave, Silver Spring, MD)
Giant #362 (20944 Frederick Rd, Germantown, MD)
Giant #373 (5500 Silver Hill Rd, District Heights, MD)
Giant #375 (1050 Brentwood Rd NE, Washington, DC)
Giant #753 (2551 John Milton Dr, Herndon, VA)
Giant #799 (61 Catoctin Cir NE, Leesburg, VA)
Safeway #1331 (2205 Old Bridge Rd, Woodbridge, VA)
Safeway #2379 (1855 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC)
Safeway #4007 (3713 Lee Hwy, Arlington, VA)