To My Brothers and Sisters,

Right now, I am asking the membership to take a moment to read the following statement. I am so sorry that you caught in the middle of chaos. Everyone is attempting to pull us in fifty million directions. Some who are running for office are taking advantage of this turbulent time to pursue their own agendas. Some of our members are so angry about the recent chain of events with WMATA and our arbitration award, they are demanding action. WMATA is attempting to feed pieces of information to the media suggesting that we are going to strike. Don't get caught up in the feeding frenzy.

Section 107 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the Compact are the governing documents between ATU Local 689 and WMATA. Both WMATA and the union must comply with their provisions. In 1974 and 1978 the courts ruled during union strikes in clear language concerning the prohibition against those strikes. We have played by the rules and there is no reason to take any action right now. If and when we take any action, the entire membership will have to agree.

As I said in the last letter to you, we put on our case in accordance with the law and I am confident, regardless of WMATA's efforts, we will prevail.

Our members voted at our special union meeting to follow a plan. They directed the officers of this Local to continue working with our legal team to have the courts enforce our rights. The membership sanctioned two actions thus far-our continued legal battle to force WMATA to abide by the arbitrators' ruling; and to insist that all members continue "working to the SOP" (Standard Operating Procedure) for safety. We will move forward, through the legal system, in our continued effot to secure all rights and benefits awarded by the arbitrators.

Although you may be compelled to act, be careful, WMATA has been perched, anticipating an action by us since their decision not to honor the agreement. Any action taken by Local 689 requires a special meeting and authorization by the membership. No other action has been agreed on or authorized and we are not endorsing or supporting any other action at this time.

Please call me at (301) 568-6899, if you have any questions.

In Solidarity,

Jackie Jeter