OCTA Drivers Reject Accord

After more than eight months of negotiations, Orange County’s 1,200 bus drivers have narrowly rejected a tentative labor agreement, union officials announced Friday.

Patrick D. Kelly, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 952, said coach operators for the Orange County Transportation Authority failed to approve the contract accord reached almost two weeks ago.

Kelly attributed the no vote to younger bus drivers who believed they deserved more of a wage increase over the three-year life of the new contract. The agreement was defeated by nine votes.

“We will probably get back into negotiations and mediation starting late next week,” Kelly said. “We are looking forward to working with the authority to get something that satisfies our members.”

OCTA and the union reached a tentative contract agreement Oct. 25 after both sides compromised on cost-of-living raises.

Drivers, whose top hourly wage is $20.02, had wanted increases of up to 3.7% for each year of the three-year contract. OCTA had offered about 3%.

“We are disappointed because we think we made a very fair and very reasonable offer,” said Arthur T. Leahy, OCTA’s chief executive officer. “We hope people pause, reflect and reconsider. Everyone wants this settled. No one wants a work stoppage.”

OCTA’s board of directors will meet in closed session Monday to discuss what to do next.

Both sides say one issue has been the poor performance of the stock market over the last several years that has resulted in losses for pension funds.

Kelly and Leahy said OCTA money that could have gone to improve wages has been used to shore up the bus drivers’ pension fund.

“Things are real tough right now for medical costs and the stock market,” Leahy said.

This year, labor negotiations, which began in mid-March, have been among OCTA’s longest and most difficult. In July, drivers authorized a strike if negotiations broke down.

In September, dozens of coach operators rallied outside OCTA headquarters in Orange. The union also sent petitions signed by 900 drivers to the agency’s board of directors to press their demands.