We’ve had a lot of debates here about the role of the transit union. Does it play an important role in pushing for good and safe working conditions and a reasonable wage for skilled employees, or does it just protect rude workers and make Metro’s costs unsustainably high?

The union wants to talk to you and answer your questions. On Monday, ATU Local 689 is hosting a town hall meeting. It starts at 6 pm at the MLK Library, 901 G Street, NW, Room A-5.

The union’s political and legislative director, Lateefah Williams, writes, “The goal is to give the riding public an opportunity to meet with union officers and members, engage in dialogue, and ask any questions that riders may have. It will also give riders and union members the opportunity to get to know one another and to dispel any myths or misunderstandings.”

Even if you can’t attend, Williams agreed to take a number of your questions and write up answers which we will post next week. Post in the comments the questions you’d like to ask the union.

We’ll pick the best questions and send them to Williams and the other union officials. Your question is more likely to get answered if it’s genuinely trying to explore an issue or find out information, rather than just throwing out some accusatory (or sycophantic) statement and then just asking, “what do you think about THAT?”

What are good topics? Williams writes,

The union is aware that the public has many safety concerns that the public wants addressed. As we approach the second anniversary of the tragic red line crash that claimed nine lives and injured dozens more, we want to ensure that the public and the workers move forward as partners to ensure that everything is being done to prioritize safety.

The union is committed to taking active steps to ensure that the safety of all who ride or operate Metro trains and buses is prioritized. We look forward to hearing comments from the public concerning safety issues and what more the system or the workers can do to make riders feel safe when riding the system. Along the same lines, workers will also share their experiences concerning safety.

In addition to safety concerns, customer relation issues also come up frequently. It is the union’s position that all of its members should treat members of the public politely and with the utmost respect. While we honestly believe that the overwhelming majority of our members do that, we do realize that there are times when a small minority of employees have not upheld the high level of customer service that we all strive towards.

To that end, this will give both riders and employees the opportunity to talk directly to one another and learn each other’s perspective regarding occasional break-downs in communication between the two groups. This will also give both riders and workers a chance to directly hear how certain actions are interpreted.

Finally, funding and fare issues are also a concern for both the union and riders. The union has been very active during the budget season to ensure that WMATA is properly funded and that the entity does not have to resort to service cuts and fare increases. To accomplish that, we have been active in the budget process for the WMATA budget and the budget processes of the local jurisdictions that fund WMATA.

This year, we were particularly active in the budget process for the District of Columbia because that was the jurisdiction that was not able to fully subsidize WMATA this budget cycle. We encouraged our members to attend the budget hearings and we testified at several budget hearings. Funding and fare increases serve as the best opportunity for the public and the workers to work together. While we work with numerous coalition groups, including rider groups, to achieve common goals, our (riders and workers) collective voices will be that much stronger if we unite, on a larger scale, around common issues.

Hopefully, this will be the beginning of a process to build better communication between workers and riders. I also hope that it serves to let the public know that the union wants to work with riders to ensure that their needs are met. This is a public forum, so please disseminate this information to your networks. This dialogue is just one step in the process to truly ensure that WMATA runs that safest, most efficient transportation system in the world.

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.