Drivers for City’s Bus Line Strike

Drivers for the company that provides bus service for the city of Santa Clarita abruptly walked off the job Wednesday in a labor dispute that caught city officials by surprise and stranded 12,000 commuters.

Santa Clarita Transit drivers called the strike at 3:30 a.m. after talks broke down with ATC Vancom of Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., over issues including wage increases, health benefits and overtime, according to members of Teamsters Local 572.

City officials could not say when bus service would be fully restored but said they had received assurances from ATC Vancom executives that substitute drivers would be brought in.

“The first priority is to get kids to school and commuters to work,” said Gail Ortiz, spokeswoman for Santa Clarita Transit. “But we don’t have an exact time when that service will return.”

Many commuters learned of the strike after arriving at stops where buses never showed up and were forced to scramble for alternative transportation. For long-distance commuters, that meant switching from daily express buses to Metrolink trains or their own cars to get to downtown Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley or West Los Angeles.

Also caught off guard were thousands of local junior high and high school students, many of whom live two to five miles from campus and depend on the municipal bus service to get to school.

Although the strike did not lead to widespread absences, school officials said many students, such as Valencia High School sophomore Jerome Sonza, 15, had to find rides.

“I had to ask my dad,” said Sonza, who found out about the strike after he had walked to his bus stop. “I’m probably going to end up walking to school. Everybody’s on their own right now.”

Added Charrice Lightfoot, a campus supervisor at Valencia High, “A lot of the kids were late today. A lot of parents had to be called in from work to drive their kids to school.”

Bus drivers picketed outside the city’s transit offices and City Hall.

Union officials said offers by ATC Vancom fell far short of a promised one-year, 15% pay raise. They also said they want the company to pay the full cost of health coverage for their families.

“The bus drivers aren’t at fault for the cessation of service,” said Miguel Lopez, a representative for the 105 drivers of Teamsters Local 572. “We’ve gone way beyond the call of duty to resolve this.”

But Ken Graska, general manager for ATC, said the company never promised a 15% raise and health care demands by drivers were unreasonable. “They want 100%, everything,” Graska said. “Everything paid for, which in this day and age is unheard of.”

In the meantime, city officials said Metrolink will honor the system’s express passes.