Washington D.C.—“Hey Hey, Ho Ho, “Quote the Fare’ Has Got to Go” started off a rally by over 100 transit workers in ATU 689 in front of the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) headquarters just before the monthly board meeting. Members of Progressive Labor Party (PLP) were on the picket line and distributed CHALLENGE to over 60 percent of the workers, reflecting the high level of class consciousness developed over long years of Party organizing. 

NO cuts for transit workers!

Today’s Safety First Rally attacked the Metro Board for cutting station attendant staffing, speeding up trains in workplace sites, and changing roadway workers’ protections. WMATA has demanded that the operators “quote the fare” as riders get on the bus, and put “FARE REQUIRED” on the front of buses. They have also increased transit police enforcement over people who don’t pay. The fare issue is also a safety issue, since arguments with riders over fares have led to fights and episodes of assaults on operators. Turning riders against operators is an example of the bosses’ goals of creating division in the working class. Besides attacking Washington area residents, this repressive approach has also led to transit police working closely with ICE to detain Black and Latin riders who get a ticket. This shameful attack has been emphasized by ongoing bus size ads recruiting for the Customs and Border Patrol (CHALLENGE  7/30/2025).

Bosses cutting OT

Inside the board meeting, PLP and metro workers spoke sharply against the board for an hour on these issues, as well as against a pilot proposal by WMATA to move to four day work weeks. This sinister attack on the eight hour day includes ignoring the requirement for overtime pay after 8 hours of work, which has always been the basic way that bosses have been forced to maintain a standard eight hour day. 

The bosses are not worried about tired operators or more injuries if they can save money. As the bosses look to profit from Artificial Intelligence and automation in transit by laying off workers, unions must fight for a shorter work week with no reduction in weekly pay. Workers can be trained for the new jobs that automation will create, rather than being laid off. But until workers have overthrown the entire capitalist system that lives to pump profits out of their labor, they will continue to face challenges as the trend towards fascism intensifies.

Workers in transit have real power to shut the system down by striking and following through on their safety and workplace demands. Communist leadership in these unions is necessary to break through the “business union” approach by union officials who are happy to accommodate unsafe productivity improvements while protecting their own salaries and position instead of leading struggles for safety and jobs for the working class.