O.C. Bus Drivers Accept Pay Cuts to Avert Strike

County bus drivers voted convincingly Saturday to stay on their jobs and accept wage and benefit cuts that they had rejected twice before rather than stage a strike that may have crippled the county’s bus system.

The 319-228 vote came in the wake of an eight-hour, closed-door meeting with a federal mediator on Friday during which negotiators agreed to extend the original three-year contract by two years and slightly sweeten the deal for the drivers. Transportation officials had sought wage concessions because of lingering effects of the county’s bankruptcy.

“I’m happy to see that we’ve protected some jobs,” said Ed Mireles, secretary-treasurer for Teamsters Union Local 952, which represents the county’s 735 bus drivers.

“It’s unfortunate, though, that the coach operators took the front end of the bankruptcy,” he added. “The politicians have made them the sacrificial lambs of the bankruptcy. But at least we have some job security and there’s no need to privatize.”

Mike Patton, the union’s business agent, said it was a unhappy day for labor.

“I’m glad that people will be working, but I’m really sad to see it happen this way,” he said. “A lot of people will view this as a defeat. I feel part of this group; I’m grieving.”

The new five-year contract, which goes into effect on Wednesday, will reduce the drivers’ $17.06 hourly wage by 46 cents and require them to pay up to $140 more a month for health benefits over the first three years.

Over the final two years of the drivers’ contract, however, their pay will come back up by increments, eventually returning to slightly higher than its present level, and some health benefits will be restored. The new contract will also decrease break times and, beginning the fourth year, impose tougher restrictions on absenteeism while easing restrictions on the use of part-time drivers.

Transit officials have said that the reductions are necessary to help pay for a $38-million shortfall expected next year after that much in Orange County Transportation Authority funds is transferred to the county to help it recover from bankruptcy.

The bus drivers, on the other hand, have argued that they are shouldering an unfair amount of the county’s burden.

And last week, the directors of the OCTA, which operates the county’s buses, upped the ante by announcing that, in the event of a strike, they would immediately replace striking drivers and take steps toward privatizing the county’s bus system.

The voting took place at three meetings throughout the day at the union headquarters in Orange. At the evening meeting, the mood was raucous as drivers complained loudly to their union leaders about their treatment at the hands of OCTA. The atmosphere was tense as the votes were counted by several volunteers on a long table surrounded by fellow union members. On Saturday, though, OCTA officials were acting like anything but gloating victors.

“It’s a bittersweet kind of victory,” said William Hodge, the agency’s director of external affairs. “It’s hard to even characterize it as a victory. We’re disappointed that we are having to ask the drivers to take a cut. We recognize that it’s hard for anyone to agree to that and we look forward to trying to repair the relationship because we think they do a great job.”

Stan Oftelie, the agency’s chief executive officer, had similar thoughts.

“We’ve been put in a spot where we have to make cuts,” he said. “This isn’t a plan that there’s any joy in; I dislike the fact that we have to do it. The options are universally grim, but this is the best one we have.”

Back at the union hall, meanwhile, the mood was reflective late Saturday night as the drivers--who ferry about 50,000 passengers a day through the streets of Orange County--contemplated a future with less income.

“I am very relieved,” said Fred Brady, a longtime driver. “I can go home and tell my wife that I’ve got a job for at least five years. She’ll be ecstatic.”

Gary Bearden, a driver for five years, expressed similar sentiments. “I’m elated,” he said. “Putting food on the table and paying my mortgage are the most important things in my life. You can’t put pride in the bank.”

Not everyone, however, was satisfied with the outcome of Saturday’s voting.

“I feel like I’ve been violated,” said T.J. Marlo, another driver. “I really think that the people here didn’t vote with their brains--they voted with their emotions. I think the heart prevailed here.”

Driver Vic Bowen was also unhappy.

“I walk like a man,” he said. “I don’t crawl, and this company has made people crawl.”