Bus Negotiators : Two Routes End at Same Destination

One began her career driving buses. The other took an office job, handling employee grievances for the bus company.

This fall their paths dovetailed as the two women met on opposite sides of a bargaining table.

On one side: Juliene Smith, 38, the former driver, now representing 732 drivers as the general chairwoman of United Transportation Union Local 19.

On the other: Marlene Heyser, 35, the former labor representative, now director of human resources and chief negotiator for the Orange County Transportation District.

The result of their negotiations so far: a strike that began Monday, idling nearly all the district’s drivers and stranding thousands of riders.

Those who know both Heyser and Smith suggest that they are quite a match.

Both women are “very professional, level-headed, in control,” said OCTD general counsel Kennard Smart. And, like lawyers who are strong adversaries during a trial but friendly outside court, “they respect each other for the job they’re expected to do. The current conflict is not the the result of a personality dispute,” Smart said.

Huntington Beach arbitrator Bonnie Castrey has known both Smith and Heyser 10 years, through her arbitration work and through the Orange County Industrial Relations Research Assn., a group of labor and management professionals. Smith is a member of the association; Heyser is a vice president.

The two are “very bright women. Very issue-oriented. And they really care about people,” Castrey said. She also noted how unusual “and very refreshing it is to have women in really top-notch positions on either side of the table.” In her 23 years of handling labor disputes, Castrey said, she has never heard of two women heading negotiating teams against each other.

Heyser began working for the Transit District in 1978, rose to manager of employee relations, and about three years ago became director of human resources. It was the second time she had applied for the job.

Smart said he had been impressed that Heyser didn’t give up and go elsewhere when she was not hired for the human resources job the first time.

“She accepted the fact that a little more training and experience would be beneficial,” he said. Heyser, who already held a bachelor of science degree from the University of Redlands, received a master’s degree in human resources from the same school in May.

Successful Negotiations

James Reichert, OCTD general manager, said Heyser does “a heck of a good job. We discuss strategy and our approach. Once she has that direction, she carries the ball.” Although the talks with bus drivers have faltered, Heyser recently completed successful negotiations with unions representing clerks and mechanics, Reichert said.

Heyser said she had no regrets about the district’s negotiating stance with bus drivers.

“It’s kind of like you’re buying a house,” she said. “You know what you want. You give them your best offer. It’s up to them to decide.”

Still, Heyser said she did not enjoy driving through the picket lines when she arrived at work about 6:30 a.m. Monday.

“My name was being called, but it was all right,” she said. “We just drove through and walked into the building.

Heyser said she enjoys bargaining but sometimes is troubled by some aspects of the process: “I like negotiations very much. But I don’t like to see people without jobs, especially over issues that didn’t have to result in a strike.”

Smith also worked her way to the top, driving a bus for eight years before she ran for the union’s top office in 1982. She was also involved in the negotiations that led to formation of the union in 1974, and she said the mood of drivers then was the same as now: “overwhelmingly anti-management and pro-union.”

‘Being Dictated to’

As firmly as Heyser believes the strike is unwarranted, Smith argues that her drivers had to strike “because we are not negotiating--we are being dictated to.” She said that although Heyser’s tone at the bargaining table was usually courteous, “she was saying, ‘this is what we want. If you don’t like it, too bad.’ ”

“We became less friendly over the past three weeks,” Smith said. “As a result of the issues, we have nothing to chitchat about.”

Smith said she is sorry the strike is occurring at Christmas time, but “we can celebrate Christmas anytime. Right now we have a contract that’s in dispute and whether or not it’s Christmas, it has to be resolved.” Smith, a 1966 graduate of Moses Lake High School in Moses Lake, Wash., has taken business courses at Cerritos College but does not have a degree. A single mother, she has a daughter, 18, and a son, 16.

Smith said she planned to stop by the picket lines on her way home Monday and then have some lively conversation with her two children about the strike.

“Right now they’re very interested in what I do for a living,” she said.