Strike Strands Bus Riders in Orange County

Bus drivers in Orange County, who had worked without a labor contract since Oct. 30, launched a strike Monday that caught commuters by surprise and left thousands stranded.

The walkout--which came after drivers rejected Orange County Transit District officials’ final contract offer Sunday night--severed most OCTD bus links with the Southern California Rapid Transit District. However, the strike does not affect RTD bus schedules.

Some students missed classes, and factory, shop and domestic workers, who make up a large share of OCTD riders, arrived at work late or not at all. Most residents weathered the first day of the strike by turning to friends and co-workers for rides. A California Highway Patrol spokeswoman said the increase in private cars on the road did not produce traffic problems.

“I take the bus a lot to get to work,” said Evelyn Clinton, 52, a social worker who works with disabled people in Santa Ana. “But when this happens, I get mad.”

Members of Tustin-based United Transportation Union Local 19 voted 485 to 182 at 11:35 p.m. Sunday to reject the district’s offer of a 7.5% wage increase over the next 3 1/2 years. The strike began less than half an hour later, at 12:01 a.m.

The strike vote was taken behind closed doors at a location in Santa Ana that union officials refused to disclose publicly. Until Monday, union officials had maintained a weeklong silence about the negotiations. And they had declined to explain why the union gave the public no warning of the strike.

Monday afternoon, however, Local 19 General Chairman Juliene Smith said the union had requested a 10% wage hike over the next three years. She also said that the union called Monday for appointment of a state mediator and that the Transit District previously had rejected binding arbitration.

Smith also charged that the union had warned OCTD two weeks ago about a possible strike and that it was the district’s responsibility to warn the public.

But Marlene Heyser, OCTD’s negotiator in the contract dispute, said that as recently as last week, union officials had said they would seek a decision on the district’s contract offer without holding a strike vote.

Heyser said she would talk to the state mediation service but added: “I don’t know what we’d mediate, since we’ve already made our best offer.” She said the district rejected binding arbitration because officials believe such arbitration leads to contracts imposed by third parties who are unanswerable to taxpayers.

Key sticking points in the negotiations, according to both sides, have been the district’s bids to increase the use of part-time drivers, reduce absenteeism and force drivers to use a drug-testing procedure set up by OCTD before renewing their licenses.

Currently, the district requires drug tests only of drivers who have committed driving offenses or been accused of job-related misconduct.

Although interviews suggested that the district’s proposed use of more part-time drivers was more bothersome to them, labor and management observers said they could not recall any other instance of the drug-test issue’s surfacing--despite the nationwide attention drawn by drug and alcohol testing this year.

OCTD officials have cited an absenteeism rate of 11%, but Smith charged that that was an exaggeration.

“I have no idea where they are getting their 11% figure from,” Smith said. “We calculated a 6% figure. They claim we’ve had 30 days off per employee, and that’s not true at all.”

Smith said the union has no problem with drug testing in concept because “if they’re on drugs, we don’t want them on the road.” But she added that the union wants the contract to allow bus drivers to get a second opinion from physicians of their own choosing if they test positive.

Smith added that union members are upset about the district’s failure to propose cost-of-living increases beyond the 7.5% wage hike, something previous contracts have included.

“I don’t think anyone benefits when you strike,” said Smith. “I’m angry and the membership is angry that the district chose to impose a last and final offer or a strike.”

OCTD’s Heyser said that cost-of-living increases are being phased out by many industries and that management has not received one in several years.

While the charges and countercharges flew Monday, district supervisors and trainees were able to operate 72 coaches, with reduced frequency, on 13 of the district’s 53 routes. OCTD officials said an average of 39,110 people rely on the district’s buses to get to work each weekday. They say there are a total of 112,474 boardings on an average weekday, and OCTD handles 3% of the trips people take each day in the county.

The district’s dial-a-ride service, which uses vans to serve people by appointment, was still available because it is operated under separate OCTD contracts with private companies that hire their own drivers. OCTD officials urged bus riders to switch to dial-a-ride as much as possible. Dial-a-ride service is available to anyone on a first-come, first-served basis on a sliding-scale fare system.

Only one of the 300 drivers scheduled to work Monday morning crossed the picket lines, said OCTD spokeswoman Claudia Keith. There are 732 OCTD drivers in all.

“We’ve had a 100% increase in telephone calls from the public,” Keith said. She said the district received 2,500 phone calls between 6 and 10 a.m. Monday.

Margarita Rivera of Santa Ana was typical of the people inconvenienced by the strike.

Waiting for a bus at the corner of Euclid Street and Warner Avenue Monday afternoon, she complained that she had been there about 1 3/4 hours.

She said she eventually called a friend who gave her a ride.

No negotiating sessions have been held since the district made what it called its “last and final offer” Thursday night, and none was scheduled Monday.

Currently, drivers are paid $9.56 to $13 an hour.

Although police said there had been several complaints about picket lines blocking buses and people crossing the lines, there were only two disturbances reported. Striking union member Charlene Nash, 49, was charged with malicious mischief after allegedly pounding on a car with her fist, and a bus sideswiped a parked vehicle as it left the OCTD bus yard early Monday morning.

OCTD officials urged people to call (714) 636-RIDE for bus schedules and car-pool information.

The strike is the second in the district’s 14-year history. A similar walkout in February, 1981, lasted 22 days.

Health clinics reported a 20% decline in client visits Monday, Orange County Health Care Agency Director Tom Uram said. Mental health group sessions for “socialization and day treatment” later in the week may be harder hit, he said.

Bus strike effects were widely felt in Orange County. Part II, Page 1.