RTD, Blue Line Workers Vote to Authorize Walkout

Members of the union representing Rapid Transit District bus drivers and Blue Line rail operators voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to authorize the union’s first strike since 1982.

Union President Earl Clark said the vote was 3,125-240 in favor of a walkout if a new contract cannot be negotiated.

“We hope the district gets the message that our members will not settle for the type of substandard offer which now sits on the bargaining table,” Clark said.

Clark said the two sides will resume talks Thursday, and for the first time a mediator from the state Conciliation Service will attend.

The union’s three-year contract expires Saturday. If a strike appears imminent, Gov. Pete Wilson could intervene to protect the public welfare by obtaining a court order to halt a walkout for 60 days.

Clark said the district’s latest three-year proposal--negotiations began in April--would amount to a $500-a-month cut in wages and benefits. The annual salary for an experienced driver is about $34,000.

“I’m pessimistic,” Clark said, when asked about the prospects of a settlement. “We’re very far apart. No one in their right mind expects us to take a pay cut.”

Ann Neeson, the RTD’s director of Employee Relations, said Clark’s contention that the district is proposing to cut wages and benefits was news to her.

“We won’t present our initial offer until Wednesday and Thursday,” she said.

There have been five RTD drivers strikes in the last 18 years, including a 68-day walkout in 1974 and a weeklong strike in 1982.