OCTA seeks governor’s help to avoid strike
Transportation officials have asked the governor’s office to intervene in a labor dispute with bus drivers whose contract expires at the end of the month.
The Orange County Transportation Authority wants the governor to call a cooling-off period and appoint a board to look into the dispute.
Teamsters Local 952, representing 1,100 drivers and more than 250 other workers, recently authorized its members to strike May 1 if OCTA fails to improve the current three-year contract.
OCTA has offered a 13% increase in wages and benefits over three years, but union leaders say wages would increase by only 8%.
Hourly starting pay for drivers is $13.75, with top earners making $21.42. The last strike by county transportation workers was nearly two decades ago.
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