CASE STUDY
Amalgamated Transit Union
The Challenge
The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) hired TASC to work on a number of international, national and local campaigns to generate media interest and public support for the rights of its union employees. TASC has since worked on campaigns that promotedbus driver safety, Uber and rideshare driver rights, and the prevention of the privatization of the Metro DC transit system.
Our Strategy
TASC set up informational interviews with top reporters who cover transportation, labor and politics to introduce them to the challenges that ATU members face. To humanize the issues, we identified employees who could share their personal stories about the injustices they encounter on the job every day. TASC organized and prepared ATU leaders and members for a series of press conferences, and helped draft and issue press releases and public statements to make sure ATU was part of the conversation on a variety of major transportation and labor topics. We also set up meetings with editorial boards and drafted and placed op-edsfrom ATU leadership.
Results
TASC’s work produced over 120 million media impressions, including hundreds of media hits in outlets such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, Yahoo! News, Fast Company, BuzzFeed and the New York Daily News. Our work also contributed to the introduction into Congress of the Bus Operator and Pedestrian Protection Act, which aims to make city buses safer for drivers, pedestrians and riders by redesigning drivers’ work stations. Our work was so successful that the campaign to improve public transit and defend transportation workers’ rights in the Metro DC area won a PR News Nonprofit Award for Public Affairs and Issues Management.