RTD Pact Greeted Enthusiastically--Drivers Vote Today

Southern California Rapid Transit District bus drivers on Sunday got the first glimpse of a tentative contract settlement--which would give them an immediate wage increase and benefits for part-time drivers--and responded so enthusiastically that union leaders predicted they would “overwhelmingly” approve the pact.

The RTD’s 5,000 drivers will cast their ballots today on whether to ratify the 41-month agreement between the district and the United Transportation Union, a tentative settlement that was reached last week after nearly five months of sporadic bargaining.

The contract package--which includes a 21-cent hourly wage increase this year, cost-of-living hikes and added health and retirement benefits--was outlined at a meeting of drivers at the Hollywood Palladium.

With an agreement in hand, Sunday’s midnight deadline for a threatened strike lapsed without any fear of a walkout today for the RTD’s 1.1 million daily riders. Although a strike could still take place if their membership refuses to ratify the pact, union leaders were unconcerned.

“I felt good when I came here. I feel even better now,” said Earl Clark, the union’s general chairman and chief negotiator, after his bargaining team received a standing ovation from the 500 drivers at the Palladium.

“If this is any indication,” Clark told reporters, “I say we’re going to have a big ratification vote and it’s going to be approved overwhelmingly.”

The terms of the pact, which were passed out to union members as they arrived for the closed-door meeting, included a provision making the wage increase retroactive to Feb. 1.

The top wage for a driver would climb from $12.79 an hour to $13 under the proposal and the average pay, now $11.97, would be $12.18 under the new contract. The pact also calls for yearly increases of 26 cents in 1986, 24 cents in 1987 and 5 cents in 1988, when the contract is scheduled to expire on June 30.

In addition, drivers would get a cost-of-living increase for the first two years under a formula pegged to the Consumer Price Index. The basic wage rate would not go down if the cost of living decreases, Clark said.

In the third year of the pact, a flat 4% “annualized rate” would be used to determine cost-of-living adjustments. If that provision were in effect now, for example, drivers would add another 31 cents to their hourly wage to keep up with inflation.

In the final five months of the pact, that flat rate would not be used.

Although reporters were not allowed inside the meeting hall, Clark could be heard telling his membership that the pay structure was a sound one.

“I predict that by the end of this contract, you’re going to be the highest paid (operators) in the United States, or close to it. At the end of the contract, you’ll get $14 an hour and that’s a damn good settlement,” he said to applause.

Ranking of Drivers

According to an April survey by the American Public Transit Assn., RTD operators currently rank 10th among the nation’s bus operators. Under the new contract, that ranking would climb to seventh.

Other contract provisions outlined by the union include:

- Allowing part-time drivers to work a maximum of 30 hours a week and permitting them to work weekend shifts. For weekend work, which is now barred, they would be paid the same as regular drivers.

- Easing pension requirements so that drivers can retire after 25 years instead of the present 30 years of service. Those now retired with 30 years of experience receive about $1,100 in monthly pensions.

- District payment of health coverage for all employees retiring after 25 years, a move that Clark told his members “reached deep into the pockets of the district.”

One of the biggest rounds of applause greeted Clark’s announcement of changes in disciplinary rules, including a requirement that “undercover (RTD) spotters,” who can now ride a bus and evaluate a driver without the operator’s knowledge, must now be identified so that drivers can “face their accusers.”

Dress Code Change

Another change would allow drivers to wear sport shirts with the first two buttons open or blouse-type sports shirts--which were not allowed under the RTD’s dress code.

Although the vast majority of drivers appeared to favor the contract, there were pockets of dissenters who challenged the agreement and who later confronted Clark for signing what they considered a poor agreement.

“It probably will pass but it’s a weak contract,” said Franklyn Cooke, a full-time driver in the South-Central division. “What are you going to do with 5 cents in the last year of the contract? This is . . . loaded toward the pensioners and toward the part-timers.”

James Bass, another driver, agreed and said more safeguards are needed for drivers who have been assaulted on the buses. “I’m being treated like an animal out there,” he said. “There’s still no protection for the drivers in this contract and we’re out there with our lives at stake.”

But those views were largely in the minority. More typical was the reaction of Linda Movelo, whose husband is also an RTD bus driver and who showed up at the meeting with her 5-year-old son.

“I think we’ll go for it. We’re tired of strikes,” she said. “We never wanted to go out again; we just want a decent contract.”

Voting Hours

Today, the drivers will vote from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to union leaders, and the State Conciliation Service will count the ballots at union headquarters.

If the membership ratifies the agreement and if the RTD clerks--who reached a tentative agreement on Saturday--and mechanics--who resume talks this week--also settle, it would mark the first time since 1969 that the RTD has signed contracts without a strike.

But even as the mechanics prepare to resume talks, Clark said a “me too” provision in the drivers’ contract means that if one of the other unions agrees to a pact that “is one penny more” than the drivers, the union has a right to review the contract once again.

Clark said he does not think that will present a problem.

The RTD board must also approve the pact. It is scheduled to vote on Thursday, and RTD President Nikolas Patsaouras has expressed optimism that the board would approve the contract.