Tensions between transit union members and the Capital Area Transit System have officially culminated in a strike.
Stanley Smalls, a senior organizer with Amalgamated Transit Union 1546, tells Daily Report that 80 CATS workers are currently withholding their labor. He says the strike is a direct result of CATS bypassing negotiations with the union to impose its own labor contract at the end of January.
“Our members will hold the line until [CATS CEO Theo Richards] retracts that implementation letter from Jan. 31, 2025,” Smalls says. “This strike wasn’t about wage increases. It was about CATS forcing an illegal contract on the workers.”
CATS, however, says it is continuing to operate with no new contract in place. Communications manager Jada Davis says the agency has requested that the union participate in interest arbitration to resolve the dispute but has not received a response.
Despite the strike, CATS is working to maintain service for its riders. Davis says 22 of its 23 routes are covered.
“We have a group of dedicated operators who are still working,” she says. “We are fortunate to have a diverse and multi-trained staff from multiple departments who are operating services.”
ATU 1546 and CATS previously agreed to extend their old labor contract―originally set to expire on Dec. 31―through Jan. 31. Union leaders say CATS implemented its own contract terms without union approval on Jan. 31.
Tensions between ATU 1546 and CATS over their labor contract began brewing late last year. The union says transit workers in Jefferson Parish, New Orleans and Shreveport all make about $4 or $5 more per hour than CATS workers do. Union members voted to authorize a strike in late January.
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