Bus Drivers Approve New Transit District Contract

Union bus drivers, hoping to end a bitter six-month dispute with the Orange County Transit District, voted by a 3-1 margin to approve a new contract with management late Sunday.

Drivers voted 171 to 57 to approve the tentative contract, union officials said. The turnout was less than one-third of the union’s 732 members.

Juliene Smith, chairwoman of Tustin-based United Transportation Union Local 19, had predicted the overwhelming approval of the new agreement.

“We have ratified the contract, and that’s good,” Smith said. “We certainly came out much better than when we went into mediation.”

OCTD spokeswoman Joanne Curran said, “It’s a great first step. The next step will be for the board to approve it, so we can wrap up this thing.”

The union drivers have been without a contract since the previous agreement expired in October. The drivers walked off their jobs on Dec. 8 and staged a 13-day strike that curtailed 80% of OCTD’s 53 bus routes in the county.

The drivers agreed to return to work Dec. 22, after transit district officials threatened to hire permanent replacements. Since then, the two negotiating sides had been hammering out differences with the assistance of Bonnie P. Castrey, a former federal mediator who was called in to help settle the bitter dispute.

The two negotiating teams met with Castrey several times in recent weeks but did not approve a tentative agreement until they engaged in a non-stop 30-hour session on March 25 and 26.

Smith said that under the new contract, the drivers will receive a salary increase of 7.5% over 3 1/2 years. She said the drivers will get a 2% raise in each of the first two years, 2.5% in the third year and 1% in the last six months.

The drivers will not be eligible for a cost-of-living allowance, she said, but will be able to negotiate for a four-day work week in a concept called job sharing.

She also said the contract calls for dismissal if a driver records 20 absences in any year. The transit district had initially wanted a provision for dismissal after 14 absences.

Under the new contract, OCTD will be able to increase from 10% to 20% the number of part-time drivers it uses.

The new contract does not have a drug-testing provision, something the union had resisted, but Smith said the company can devise a testing policy and give the union 90 days before implementation.

The contract also provides amnesty for eight drivers who drew suspensions ranging from 15 to 60 days for their activities during the strike, and three drivers who were fired will get their jobs back, although one has decided not to return, Smith said. She added that the reinstated drivers will be receive retroactive pay.