200 'Green' CWA-Built Buses Rolling in Nation's Capital

July 2, 2009

Washington, D.C.'s transit authority ordered more than 200 hybrid buses made by CWA members.

Bus riders in the Washington, D.C., area soon will be riding on some of nation's newest "green" buses, the hybrid-electric-diesel vehicles built by members of CWA Local 7304 at New Flyer Bus Co.

The Washington Metro Transit Authority ordered more than 200 buses from New Flyer in St. Cloud, Minn. Vice President Joe Biden visited the plant as part of the White House Task Force on Working and Middle Class Families, and said the CWA-New Flyer partnership shows what can be achieved with government support for American companies that create quality green jobs.

New Flyer also supported majority signup when workers decided to form a union in 2002. Orders for the "green" buses continue to grow, and CWA members at the St. Cloud plant turn out 26 buses a week.