MTA Talks to Start; Guarded Optimism Told

With talks scheduled to resume today between striking workers and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, union and management officials expressed guarded optimism about getting Los Angeles’ transit system back in gear, but there was no relief for bus-dependent riders and merchants bracing for a summer weekend without any service.

Two days after suspending the stalemated bargaining sessions, negotiating teams plan to hole up in an undisclosed hotel, where the MTA will again try to reach a compromise with its 1,900 mechanics, whose 5-day-old walkout has disrupted life for hundreds of thousands of commuters.

Despite the resumption of talks, MTA Chief Executive Officer Franklin White continued his efforts to bypass the union leadership, revealing that he had mailed a conciliatory letter to each of the striking workers. Unimpressed, rank-and-file employees peppered White with jeers Thursday when he visited bus yards in Downtown Los Angeles and Highland Park, where they told him to “go back to New York” and challenged him to explain salaries of more than $100,000 for transit executives.

“I’m not going to stand here and tell you management has done everything right,” said the shirt-sleeved White, vowing that his financially strapped agency would not jeopardize the strikers’ jobs in its effort to cut costs.

Hector Covarrubias, a striking mechanic at the Downtown yard, was not convinced. “He’s just trying to brainwash us,” Covarrubias said. “The man makes $175,000 a year. He’s not talking about giving up any of his money.”

Even as White and the workers waged their sidewalk debate, merchants along the normally bustling Broadway corridor--one of Los Angeles’ most bus-dependent shopping hubs--could have rolled a bowling ball through their deserted stores without striking a customer.

Instead of selling boomboxes, TVs, men’s silk shirts, jeans or groceries, the clerks ate sandwiches and burritos, talked on the telephone, stocked shelves and worried that things will get even worse when bus service evaporates altogether during the all-important weekend. The MTA estimated the strike is costing at least $1.5 million daily in lost sales and wages in the Downtown area alone.

“Ay, Dios!” Manuel Lopez, 50-year-old owner of Maria’s Seafood, said as he threw up his hands. Inside his venerable Grand Central Market fish store was nearly $5,000 worth of salmon, shark and other fresh seafood that he feared would rot if his regular customers were unable to make it Downtown this weekend. “This is the worst time during 30 years in business,” he said.

On Day 4:

* The first Los Angeles transit strike in 12 years appeared destined to grind on at least into the weekend, with MTA management and the mechanics union still divided over the issue of subcontracting. MTA officials, who hope to save money by shifting some tasks to less expensive private companies, said they were pleased to see both parties back at the bargaining table. Union leaders, who consider subcontracting a threat to their jobs, also looked forward to the dialogue. “I can’t predict what could happen at the bargaining table,” said Mike Bujosa, president of the local Amalgamated Transit Union. “All I can say is that I feel positive we’re at least talking.”

* In his letter to striking workers, White promised employees that subcontracting would have no adverse impact on them. “Despite what you may have been told, I want you to know that no current ATU employee will lose his or her job as a result of any of the MTA’s contract proposals to subcontract a limited amount of work,” White said in the letter, dated Wednesday. He explained that subcontracting is one cost-cutting tool for the agency, which already has had to make up for a $126-million operating deficit. “The best job security of all,” White concluded, is “a healthy MTA.”

* Transit officials reported that a bus was hit by gunfire Wednesday near an Eastside MTA facility. A small-caliber bullet left a dent in the vehicle, officials said, but no one was injured and no suspects were in custody. Also Wednesday, a striking driver was arrested on charges of interfering with a police officer, who was citing another striker for allegedly throwing a soda can at a bus outside an MTA facility in South-Central Los Angeles. Meanwhile, several dozen two-inch nails were found scattered in the roadway outside the El Monte bus terminal. No MTA buses suffered damage, but several Foothill Transit buses had flat tires, MTA spokeswoman Andrea Greene said.

* The number of buses on the streets declined Thursday, from 345 to 339, as replacement drivers--some of them veteran supervisors who had to relearn the basics of maneuvering a seven-ton bus--began to tire from their 12-hour emergency shifts. Usually, 1,900 buses are in service, but 5,000 drivers and clerks have honored the mechanics’ picket lines. Beginning today, the MTA plans to put an additional 20 buses on the road. The new buses, which will come from Riverside and Santa Barbara counties, will include more yellow school buses and, for the first time, touring buses. If the strike lasts, the MTA plans to add 10 more buses Monday.

* Weekend service will be suspended altogether, largely because the MTA does not have enough drivers. Another concern, transit officials said, was the potential risk for fights among passengers if only a few buses were put in service and crowds began to form at bus stops. The Hollywood Bowl, which has concerts accompanied by fireworks scheduled for tonight and Saturday night, has contracted with Laidlaw to shuttle concert-goers from outlying parking lots this weekend. Buses to Dodger Stadium will be cut, but MTA officials said the service had not been attracting many fans and is due to be eliminated in September anyway.

None of this was satisfactory to April Norton-Morgan, a 15-year-old high school student from South-Central Los Angeles.

“This is really going to mess my schedule up,” she said, waiting for a bus on Vermont Avenue, as she headed home from a USC summer camp. “On the weekends, I like to go out with my friends and get out of the house early. Now . . . I’m going to have to ask my mom for a ride.”

The service cuts will be much more than an inconvenience along Broadway, which connects with some of the busiest weekend lines. Already, some shops had begun sending employees home, while others concocted creative schemes to keep from losing their weekend revenue.

Josef Cohen, who manages two stores on Broadway for Sam’s Electronics, said he will spend $50 for a van on Saturday and Sunday to ferry customers from their homes if they want to shop in person, or to deliver merchandise ordered over the telephone. Anyone who makes it in on their own--and purchases one of his TVs, typewriters or car stereos--automatically qualifies for a free ride home.

“We are 97% empty compared to what we’re supposed to have,” Cohen said. “On the weekend, it’s going to be even worse.”

At Lorenzo Clothing, near 3rd Street and Broadway, manager Manuela Alvarado glumly ate a seafood taco doused with lime juice and listened to music booming over the store’s stereo. Usually, she and the other clerk get one short break for lunch during the afternoon.

On Thursday, Alvarado was working alone and still, she said: “I can eat all day if I want.”

Broadway’s fate rests in the hands of two groups who, so far, have not been able to get along. The formal bargaining sessions are being conducted in a San Fernando Valley hotel, which negotiators would rather not disclose for fear of being pestered by the media. Leading the discussions is veteran state mediator Tom McCarthy, who helped settle past Los Angeles transit strikes. He sometimes passes messages from one camp to the other.

The mechanics are represented by their local president, Bujosa, and Jim Wood, secretary-treasurer of the County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. Representing the MTA are Gordon Krischer, a $290-an-hour private attorney, and Ann Neeson, director of employee relations for the MTA. They sometimes meet together, and at other times, meet privately among their own staffs to assess proposals.

On Tuesday night, they negotiated for six hours before breaking about midnight.

White, the MTA chief, said he has been visiting the striking workers in person because most of them are “less strident” than the union leadership. But his Thursday excursions--his sixth and seventh trips to a bus yard since workers walked out Monday at 12:01 a.m.--were marked by testy exchanges.

“When you drive up, you never have an idea about how hostile they’re going to be,” said White, who was driven by the uniformed transit police chief, Sharon Papa.

When White arrived at the Highland Park bus yard, it was not clear whether he was immediately recognized by the strikers. They continued marching on the sidewalk in front of the driveway, despite a court order prohibiting them from blocking vehicles.

“Guys, if you let us across, he’ll get out and talk to you,” Papa told the strikers.

As soon as they figured out who their visitor was, the taunts began. White tried to shake hands, but one of the strikers turned away. “I have no respect for the man,” said Jose Loredo, a mechanic. “The man comes out here from New York. . . . He comes out here and lies.” Undaunted, White rubbed shoulders with the crowd while about 10 transit police stood in a semicircle several feet behind him. “We’re in a new era,” he said. “We aren’t going to be able to do in 1994, ’95 and ’96 what we were doing 10 years ago. . . . We’re broke.”

“It’s not our fault,” one mechanic interrupted.

“Where was he before we went on strike?” Carlos Curiel, vice president of Amalgamated Transit Union, shouted.

One union member complained about previous work that has been contracted out to private companies, only to have to be fixed later by union mechanics. Another mechanic invited White to visit the maintenance yards more often.

“Come and see what your supervisors do in between naps,” a mechanic said.

“Is that a low blow?” said a smiling White.

In another moment of lightheartedness, White grabbed a picket sign to shade himself from the fierce midday sun. For several of the strikers who happened to be toting cameras, it was a once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity: a snapshot of top management hoisting a union sign.

Before the day ended, union leaders already had printed up T-shirts capturing the moment.

Times staff writer Patrick J. McDonnell contributed to this report.

The MTA Strike: Day 4

The region’s first transit strike in 12 years began at 12:01 a.m. Monday. Here is a look at Day 4:

* THE ISSUE: Dispute between the Amalgamated Transit Union, representing 1,900 mechanics and service attendants, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. About 5,000 bus and train drivers and clerks are honoring picket lines. The major sticking point is the MTA’s demand to contract out work. Union members say they believe that it will eliminate jobs and result in poorer quality work.

* THE STATUS: Negotiations were scheduled for today.

* WHAT’S OPERATING: The transit agency planned to put 20 more buses into service today, increasing the number to about 365 buses serving portions of the 34 busiest routes, out of the usual 1,900 buses on 200 routes. Some routes will use school buses, operated by private drivers, identified by “M” logos on the front and back. Service is continuing on the Red Line, Amtrak, Metrolink commuter rail and municipal/private operators such as Foothill Transit, L.A. city commuter express and DASH. The Blue Line is offering limited service.

* THE ROUTES:

The MTA is offering regular service on these routes:

204 Vermont Ave.; 240 Reseda Blvd.; 424 Ventura Blvd.-L.A., and 442 Hawthorne-Manchester-Express and on the Red Line.

Portions of the following routes are being served:

1/217 Hollywood Blvd.-Fairfax Ave.; 16 West 3rd St.; 18 E. Whittier Blvd.-West 6th St.; 21 Wilshire Blvd.; 30 Pico Blvd.-East 1st St.; 33 Venice Blvd.; 45 Broadway; 76 Valley Blvd.; 81 Figueroa St.; 92 Glenoaks Blvd.-Brand Blvd.; 105 Vernon Ave.; 108 Slauson Ave.; 115 Manchester Blvd.-Firestone Blvd.; 117 Century Blvd.; 125 Rosecrans Ave.; 152 Roscoe Blvd.; 163 Sherman Way; 180 Hollywood-Glendale-Pasadena; 207 Western Ave.; 210 Crenshaw Blvd.; 212 La Brea-San Fernando Valley; 251 Soto St.; 260 Atlantic Ave.; 420 San Fernando Valley-Hollywood-L.A.; 470 Whittier-Montebello-L.A.; 560 Van Nuys Blvd.-Westwood. Scheduled to be added today are 90 Los Angeles-Sunland-Tujunga-Sylmar; 130, Artesia Blvd.;, 232, Long Beach-Los Angeles International Airport; 234, Sepulveda Blvd.-Hubbard St. The Blue Line route runs between Willow station in Long Beach and 7th/Metro station only.

* HOURS: Bus and train service is from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays only.

* FARES: 50 cents on MTA buses and Blue Line, with no transfers. Elderly and the disabled pay 25 cents. No fee on the emergency school buses.

* FOR INFORMATION: (800) COMMUTE or (800) 371-LINK (for Metrolink information.) Recorded information in English and Spanish is available on (800) 870-0MTA.