Some Drivers Say Union Took Wrong Turn

Some Orange County bus drivers are still seething over wage and benefit cuts in their new contract. And they’re putting the blame squarely on Ed J. Mireles.

Mireles is the leader of Teamsters Local 952, which represents 735 county bus drivers. In recent days, more than 300 of them have signed a petition demanding that Mireles be removed from office, says bus driver Terry Crane. Mireles “used undue influence to extract the ratification of this outrageous contract,” the petition alleges.

Drivers in late April ratified a five-year agreement on a vote of 319-228. The contract initially reduces the drivers’ $17.06 hourly wage by 46 cents and requires them to pay up to $140 more a month for health benefits. Crane, a 10-year bus driver, and other petitioners insist that Mireles wangled members to vote for the contract by telling them that they would lose their jobs if they didn’t. Mireles, 52, says he simply was telling members what management conveyed to him--that the county would replace workers if they walked out, and would seek to privatize the operations.

Mireles says politics is behind the petition effort. Mireles is running this year for vice president of the national union on President Ron Carey’s ticket. He believes supporters of Carey’s opponent, James P. Hoffa, are using the bus contract for political gains.

Bus drivers deny that, and they have sent the petitions to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters ethics committee in Washington. A spokesman there said he saw only 134 signatures on the petitions, but noted that the case is being investigated.

Don Lee covers workplace issues for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7407 and at don.lee@latimes.com