Striking Bus Drivers Disrupt Service for Commuters, Students

Public bus drivers in the Antelope Valley went on strike early Monday morning, partially disrupting service and making some Los Angeles-bound commuters late for work and some students tardy for school.

The work stoppage by bus drivers and mechanics of Local 572 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters affected the Antelope Valley Transit Authority, which carries more than 100,000 people monthly on its commuter lines, local routes and Dial-a-Ride service.

“It puts people in a bind all over the valley,” said Bob Hesselgrave, chairman of the AVTA senior citizens advisory committee.

DAVE Transportation Services, Inc., the company AVTA contracts to operate the bus services, said it will begin today recruiting permanent replacements for the striking workers. Meanwhile, the Santa Ana-based firm is using supervisors from its Antelope Valley office and other locations as drivers.

The fill-in drivers could provide only limited service Monday, and many riders were left waiting at stops well beyond scheduled pickup times.

Commuters said they waited in the pre-dawn light for late-arriving buses that got them to work as much as an hour behind schedule. Schools reported that dozens of students arrived as much as two hours late. The wait for a bus at most local stops--usually an hour at the most--was stretched to two hours, which will continue for at least another day.

“It’s really crummy to leave all of us waiting,” said Barbara Porter, a commuter, who rides a 4:35 a.m. bus to her downtown office.

“Everybody was cold,” said commuter Marlene Foreman. “They were angry.”

Kathy Schielke, an attendance clerk at Antelope Valley High School in Lancaster, said: “We had a whole swarm of kids who came in and said they waited for the bus, and it didn’t arrive. It was a bit of a predicament.”

One bus that usually drops students off at 7:15 a.m.--15 minutes before classes start--arrived at 8:15 a.m., Schielke said.

Lisa Hill, an attendance clerk at Littlerock High School, said similar problems occurred at that campus. “We had some students coming in an hour or two late, and they said, ‘The bus didn’t come,’ ” Hill said. “They went back home and found someone to bring them in.”

John Helm, a regional manager for DAVE Transportation, said he was unsure how long it would take to return all service to pre-strike levels. Only the commuter route and the runs that pick up schoolchildren, he said, are expected to be back to normal today.

Helm said he hopes to provide half the normal number of buses today on other routes, on which service will begin at 9 a.m. instead of 5:30 a.m. and end at 6 p.m. instead of 8 p.m.

By using drivers from the Antelope Valley Schools Transportation Agency, AVTA officials hoped to return the Dial-a-Ride service to near normal levels, at least during the midday hours.

The drivers and mechanics, about 90 in all, went on strike at 3 a.m. Monday, alleging unfair labor practices by their employer, DAVE Transportation.

“They don’t want to give us paid sick leave,” said striker Nathan Mackey, a driver who has worked for DAVE Transportation for 16 months.

Mackey and others picketed at the offices of DAVE Transportation and the AVTA, park-and-ride lots and the Antelope Valley Mall, promising to keep a 24-hour vigil until they are assured of better wages and benefits.

The mechanics and drivers voted in May to join the Teamsters union, which has been negotiating with DAVE Transportation since July on a contract.

The company, Mackey said, refuses to provide benefits to part-time employees, is offering only a 50-cent pay raise over three years and wants to increase the employee-paid share of health benefits, negating the raise.

“They pretty much sat down and told us this is the way it is,” he said.

Chuck Nichols, a striking driver and member of the negotiating team, said, “They flat out tell us there’s certain things they won’t do. We’ve tried to tell them all we want to do is get a contract.”

Bill Budlong, AVTA executive director, said the Teamsters gave no notice of the work stoppage. “It is an unreasonable strike,” Budlong said. “The resolution of this is between the Teamsters and DAVE.”

Helm said there was no communication Monday between his firm and the strikers or union.

Dave Parker, a spokesman for the National Labor Relations Board, said if the work stoppage is the result of unfair labor practices, the strikers’ jobs are protected, but “if the strike has no such unfair labor practice behind it, the employer is allowed to replace the workers.”

Failing to bargain in good faith on a first union contract, he said, is considered an unfair labor practice. Offering few benefits is not.

“If the strikers went out simply for more money, then they struck at their own peril,” Parker said.

The workers or Teamsters would have to file a charge with the labor board alleging an unfair labor practice, Parker said. No such charge had been filed as of Monday, according to the regional office in Los Angeles.

Times staff writer Phil Sneiderman contributed to this story.