The operators, members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1574, overwhelmingly rejected two contract proposals last month, including one that would have raised pay by about 18% over the next three years.
Local 1574 President Ernie Solero told KQED that his members, including maintenance and customer service personnel, are seeking to close a pay gap with neighboring transit districts. They also want an adjustment in work hours, more paid time off and changes in employee payments for medical insurance.
A dispute has also emerged between the union and the district over who is responsible for making the next move in the negotiations.
SamTrans officials say that after two contract rejections, it’s up to the union to come up with a new proposal. Solero said the union is ready to negotiate, but that management told him late last month it had no plans to resume talks.
Solero said he last spoke to district labor negotiator Patrick Glenn on Aug. 26 amid reports bus operators were about to stage a sickout.
“I called and said, ‘Hey, Pat, what is the plan?’ He said, ‘There is no plan.’ So that means they have no plan of budging and no plan of meeting with us,” Solero said.
“They’re saying, ‘Oh, it’s the union’s responsibility.’ I’ve made all kinds of proposals, every proposal that I can make. They rejected almost everything,” he said.
Solero said those proposals included:
- Bringing the SamTrans pay scale closer to that in effect for drivers at San Francisco’s Muni and Santa Clara County’s VTA. The top pay for operators under SamTrans’ “last, best and final offer” was $45.72 an hour; the Muni scale tops out at $51.45. Under a contract that expires early next year, VTA operators currently make about $4 an hour more than SamTrans drivers do.
- Changes in operators’ working hours, potentially reducing the currently required two-hour break in the middle of shifts to one hour.
- Increasing union members’ accrual of paid time off (PTO) to match that earned by the district’s administrative staff.
- Placing an annual cap on employee payments for medical insurance.
Solero, who’s been with SamTrans for 23 years, said the proposal for shorter middle-of-shift breaks was particularly important.
The current two-hour break means “our bus operators work 10 hours for an eight-hour pay. To work two hours of overtime, members have to work a 12-hour day.”
SamTrans spokesperson Randol White declined to discuss contract specifics.
“While, of course, we very much respect the service that the media provides, SamTrans is not looking to negotiate such sensitive material in the press,” he said.
He said the district management is “pretty adamant on the fact that the ball is in the court of the union. And so in order to get these negotiations going further, the union needs to come forward with what would work for them.”
White called the 18.3% three-year pay raise in the rejected contract “fair and equitable while balancing the agency’s obligations to the taxpayers of San Mateo County who helped fund SamTrans.”
The agency has also highlighted the fact Local 1574 leadership, including Solero, recommended that members ratify the contract proposal before the 222–79 “no” vote last month.
Solero said he made the recommendation knowing that the district would continue to fight the union “tooth and nail” over its contract proposals.
“One of the reasons I recommended it is I know it’s going to take a whole lot from our membership … a whole lot of sacrifice, like going on a strike” to persuade the district they’re serious about their contract objectives.
Solero said Local 1574 members have already authorized a strike, adding that many are still angry with the district after negotiations for their 2022 contract dragged on for more than a year and a half with no agreement in place.
“They’ve been wanting to do this (since) last contract,” Solero said. “… They can’t wait anymore. They’re doing the sickout. They’re not willing to wait for the district anymore. They’re trying to send a message: ‘Don’t delay’ in making a new offer.”
