Judge Orders Striking Bus Drivers to Cut Back Pickets

A Superior Court judge Wednesday ordered Orange County Transit District bus drivers to halt mass picketing at four sites, saying that the groups of strikers had created a “dangerous condition.”

Judge William F. Rylaarsdam signed a temporary restraining order limiting to four the number of pickets that can demonstrate at any OCTD facility entrance.

Transit district attorney Kenneth E. Ristau Jr. alleged that some members of Local 19 of the United Transportation Union had threatened, intimidated and harassed supervisors driving district buses during the three-day-old strike.

Ristau told Rylaarsdam that “a barrage of bomb threats” had occurred since the strike began Monday--an assertion flatly denied by union attorney James L. Evans.

A bomb threat Wednesday at the district’s administrative headquarters in Garden Grove proved to be a hoax. Police Lt. John Woods said an unidentified woman called the office at noon and said a bomb was in the lobby. The building was partly evacuated, but no device was found, he said.

Eighty to 100 of the district’s 732 drivers have shown up at picket lines daily since the walkout began. Rylaarsdam limited the number to 15 per facility--four at the entrance, 10 no closer than 50 feet to the entrance and one union official.

On Wednesday, buses still were running on 12 of the district’s 53 routes. Fifty-five were being driven by management personnel and trainees. Joanne Curran, spokeswoman for the transit district, said 19,000 passengers are being served daily during the strike. On an average weekday before the strike, the district was reporting 112,000 boardings.

Mediation Progress Seen

Union attorney Evans claimed after Wednesday’s court hearing that drivers have been placed behind the wheels of the district’s buses during the strike with as little as four days of training, rather than the normal six weeks.

Meanwhile, transit district officials said they are prepared to meet with union negotiators and a state mediator as soon as a time and place can be chosen.

Ed Allen, head of the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service in Sacramento, said in a telephone interview that he had chosen a mediator.

“The two parties at this point do not know who the mediator is,” Allen said. “Once he is announced to the two sides, he will determine when the first meeting will take place.”

Curran said the district will not deviate from its offer of a 7.5% pay raise over 3 1/2 years. The union wants a 10% raise over three years. Drivers currently make between $9.56 and $13 an hour.

“There is always room for re-packaging (the contract proposal),” she said. “But the actual wage portion won’t be changed.”

Curran also said the district will not budge from its proposal to require drug testing of all drivers. Union officials have said they will agree to drug testing but want drivers to be allowed to get a second opinion from doctors of their own choosing in the case of a positive result.

Juliene Smith, Local 19 general chairman, said many testing labs have an error factor as high as 30% on positive findings.

“We’re just asking for a fair chance to preserve our members’ dignity, constitutional rights and personal reputation,” Smith said.

Smith also said the district’s desire to increase the percentage of part-time drivers from the current 10% to 20% over the life of its proposed contract is a major stumbling block in negotiations. She said the union would agree to an increase of 15%.

“The most important issues are those affecting job security,” she said.

However, Curran said that was not an issue in negotiations.

“Every operator is guaranteed job security,” she said. “We will not fire anyone to reach this goal. It would be handled by attrition.”

Substitute drivers keep the buses rolling, but striking drivers are critical of their skills. View, Part V-AR, Page 1.