Countywide : Pickets Increased at Airport Service Sites

To protest a proposed 11.5% wage cut, striking Airport Service Inc. bus drivers and ticket agents picketed in force Thursday--two weeks to the day after workers walked off their jobs.

The 110 bus drivers and 28 ticket agents spread out at three terminals: outside the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, the John Wayne Airport and the Los Angeles International Airport. Before Thursday, the union had three or four picketers at each airport and about 10 at the Disneyland Hotel, said Milton Merrill, a business representative with Teamsters Local 952.

The increased number of picketers will continue today, Merrill said, to show that “we are sincere. We’re trying to send a message saying we’re united out here.”

Meanwhile, Airport Service President Don Boyles said the company has replaced 17 of the striking bus drivers and is looking to replace the rest of the crew with new employees if the dispute continues.

The strike has severely limited service between Los Angeles, Orange County and Pasadena, with only 20% of the scheduled service operating, Boyles said. Of seven locations in Orange County, only John Wayne Airport and Disneyland Hotel have been providing bus services since the strike, he said. Bus rides between the airports and the terminals have increased since the strike began Nov. 7. For example, at the beginning of the strike, the company provided six round trips between Anaheim and Los Angeles but expanded it to 18 round trips this week. Normally, there are 36 round trips between the two spots, Boyles said.

The top hourly pay rates are now $10.95 for bus drivers and $10.10 for ticket agents. To the bus drivers, the proposed cut in wages and benefits would mean $1.02 less per hour. To the ticket agents, the wage cut translates to $1.17 less per hour, officials from both sides said. Most of the workers are at the top rates, the officials said.