Martz Workers Furious at Company Offers and Reopen Strike Fund

ATU Local 689 represented workers at Martz Gold Line taking action against company

Today, workers serving MTA commuter bus routes contracted to Martz Gold Line left the latest session of bargaining furious. After months of painstaking negotiations, the company refused to move off of its positions to keep members with wages below the rest of their peers and to impose a “charter rate” that would keep compensation even lower. In response to this, workers are opening their strike fund to the public, filing Unfair Labor Practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, calling on allies to directly voice their concerns to Martz management, and have signaled preparedness to take workplace action if necessary.

“I’ll tell the riding public this: we all need to stand strong together now, or your bus may not be here when you need it,” said ATU Local 689 President Raymond Jackson. “We have tried for months to deal with Martz in good faith. At this point we are nearly bargaining against ourselves trying to make a deal. This is unacceptable and we won’t stand for it.”

Martz Gold Line currently runs MTA Commuter Bus routes serving the suburban Washington D.C. area. This includes service to and from Montgomery, Prince George’s, and Charles Counties specifically via the the 305, 315, 325, 630, 640, and 735 routes. Unfortunately, our members behind this critical service have not been receiving equal compensation to comparable companies, despite driving the same roads.

In March, Martz Gold Line workers voted 88% in favor of a strike authorization. Similarly, only a few weeks ago, workers overwhelmingly rejected the company’s “last, best, and final” proposal. Although workers got the company to come back to the bargaining table today, the company simply rejected Union offers without counters and again attempted to impose its demands on workers. In response, the Union’s legal officers will be filing Unfair Labor Practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board. Additionally, the Union is reopening its strike fund to the public for donation for the first time since Fairfax Connector workers concluded their strike in February 2024. Transit workers at Martz will be ready to take action and secure a contract with dignity.