RTD Board OKs 3 Union Contracts, Ending Threat of Bus Strike

Averting a strike by bus drivers, the Southern California Rapid Transit District board of directors ratified new contracts Saturday with three unions representing more than 7,000 of the system’s operators, mechanics and clerical staff, RTD officials said.

“Everyone came out a winner at the bargaining table,” RTD board President Marvin Holen said in a prepared statement after the unanimous vote.

“These contracts improve employee wages and benefits while allowing RTD to operate cost-efficiently and competitively. And, for the taxpayer, we were able to keep costs in line.”

The board’s vote to ratify the three-year contracts came during a rare Saturday session and came after the unions’ approval of the agreements earlier last week.

RTD officials said the board’s action ended any possibility of a strike against RTD bus and light-rail systems. Union officials could not be reached for comment.

The agreements approved are with the United Transportation Union (UTU), which represents about 5,000 bus and train operators; the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), which represents about 1,850 mechanics and service attendants, and the Transportation Communications Union (TCU), which represents about 700 clerical workers.

According to the RTD, the labor agreements call for an average 4.5% increase in wages and benefits each year during the three-year contract period.

Provisions in the UTU and ATU contracts grant a 40 cents per hour wage hike each year, plus quarterly cost-of-living adjustments. The TCU contract contains a two-tiered structure giving 2.2% wage increases to employees hired before September 1979, and 2.6% increases to those hired later, plus a quarterly cost-of-living adjustment.

The district said it will contribute additional money to the unions’ health and welfare trust funds.

RTD officials agreed with an ATU program that permits youngsters involved in county probation and other youth programs to continue to clean graffiti off RTD buses. And the district tightened its policy on extended leaves of absence. Employees will be granted leaves for no more than 12 months within a 16-month period.

The contracts provide for a four-day, 40-hour work week pilot program. The UTU and TCU contracts include a nine-day, 80-hour work week pilot program.