Countywide

(Updated at 11:35 a.m.) Fairfax Connector workers have launched a strike after months of negotiations for a new labor contract with Transdev, the company that operates Fairfax County’s bus service.

Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689, which represents about 638 bus operators and mechanics for Fairfax Connector, announced the strike just after midnight today (Thursday). Workers began hitting picket lines at garages in Herndon, Lorton and on West Ox Road in the Fairfax area at 2 a.m.


Countywide

(Updated at 4 p.m.) Hundreds of Fairfax Connector workers could strike if contract talks between their union and employer break down.

Nearly a month after the end of their existing contract with Transdev, which operates Fairfax County’s public bus system, union drivers, mechanics and other employees voted on Dec. 29 to authorize a strike, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689 announced yesterday.


Countywide

For the first time in over four decades, Fairfax County’s police officers and firefighters got an opportunity this year to negotiate their pay, benefits and working conditions with the local government.

The collective bargaining process led to new contracts for Fairfax County Police Department and the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department employees that union representatives and county leaders both lauded as meaningful wins for public safety workers.


Countywide

Fairfax Connector’s operator and workers remain far apart in their negotiations for a new labor contract, says the union representing drivers and other employees of Northern Virginia’s largest public bus system.

Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 689 accused contractor Transdev of “clearly not [being] serious about bargaining in good faith” in a strongly worded statement issued last Wednesday (Nov. 22), just before Thanksgiving.


Countywide

Negotiations over pay, benefits and working conditions are underway for hundreds of Fairfax Connector employees.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 presented an initial proposal on Oct. 13 for a contract that would cover 546 members who work for Fairfax County’s bus system to Transdev, the company that operates the transit service, the union said in a press release yesterday (Monday).


Countywide

The workers who clean office buildings around Fairfax County won’t have to hit the picket lines anytime soon.

The union representing about 9,100 commercial office cleaners in the D.C. area reached a tentative agreement yesterday (Tuesday) for a new contract with property owners in the Washington Service Contractors Association (WSCA), averting a potential strike.


Countywide

Another strike may be on the horizon for the D.C. area, this time led by office cleaners who say wages have stagnated even after they were expected to keep working through the pandemic.

About 9,100 janitors, more than 3,000 of them in Northern Virginia, are voting this week on whether to go on strike if they’re unable to agree on a new contract with the Washington Service Contractors Association (WSCA) before the existing one expires on Oct. 15.


Countywide

More than 75,000 workers at health care giant Kaiser Permanente are set to strike on Wednesday.

The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions’ contract with the health system expired on Saturday night without reaching a new agreement with management. Union workers are bargaining for pay raises and increased protections against strain. Employees say they and patients are feeling the effects of short-staffing.


News

A union representing Maximus call center workers filed unfair labor practices charges against the Tysons-headquartered contractor this week.

In charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Tuesday and Wednesday (May 23 and 24), the Communications Workers of America alleges that the government services company, which operates call centers for Medicaid and Medicare, has retaliated against employees and illegally tried to discourage them from unionizing.


Countywide

With over $110 million in unallocated funds to work with, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors moved yesterday (Tuesday) to address employee compensation, tax relief and other priorities.

As approved by the board 9-1, nearly all of that available money will go toward reducing the real estate tax rate by 1.5 cents and fully funding salary market rate adjustments for county employees — items totaling $47 million and $54.9 million, respectively.


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