Transit Standoff Continues: Union, VTA Blame Each Other as Riders Struggle

The strike by South Bay transit workers will continue for a 16th consecutive day on Tuesday, after Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 members voted down the latest contract offer from the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.

The contract proposal, which included an 11 percent wage increase over three years, was rejected by more than 80%, according to union officials who said 1,117 votes were cast with 919 members turning it down.

“Our members want to get back to work. The service our members provide this community is invaluable, and our customers have suffered greatly these past two weeks,” Raj Singh, president of the union, said Monday afternoon outside the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds building where ATU members cast their votes. “Our members will only return to work with a fair contract, one that guarantees their rights, their dignity and their safety.

“This has been a difficult time and a difficult vote.”

The historic strike by more than 1,500 bus drivers, light rail train operators, maintenance workers and dispatchers represented by ATU has halted transit for tens of thousands of daily riders in Santa Clara County, forcing many to find alternate transportation, sometimes at an increased cost.

The rejection comes one day after VTA’s Board of Directors held a special meeting to up their wage offer to the union members while also including some concessions, such as potential restrictions on overtime pay.

“This is a more than fair proposal for employees and we at this point are very concerned about the tens of thousands of riders who are not getting to their minimum wage jobs and we need people to come back to work,” Stacey Hendler Ross, a VTA spokesperson, said Monday after the results of the vote were announced.

Singh said the offer was likely rejected, in part, because of what he called the agency’s “aggressive bargaining,” including that the VTA declined to guarantee workers wouldn’t be disciplined for striking after returning to work, refused to drop its lawsuit to stop the strike, as well as overtime restrictions.

“Had they not done that, we might have had a different outcome,” Singh said.

The two sides continued to blame one another for the lack of a resolution and said new offers could be made to help resume negotiations. When asked about his message to riders who have been struggling without transit for more than two weeks, Singh pointed the finger at VTA.

“The agency has continued to play games and not put forth a serious effort in resolving things,” he said. “They are the ones that continue to stall these conversations instead of trying to come to an agreement and get service restored as soon as possible.”

Hendler Ross said the agency is “not interested in negotiating the contract in the media,” and added that “negotiations remain open for ATU to come to the table.”

Before the vote, the agency said in a statement that its most recent offer provides “stability and opportunity” to its workers in an uncertain time across many industries.

“VTA’s latest proposal reflects our commitment to our workforce, and we urge our employees to embrace this chance to secure their future and return to work,” the statement said.

The agency said about 100,000 riders use bus and light rail services every weekday, a large proportion of whom earn lower incomes and are students.

VTA sued the union on the first day of the strike, alleging that the work stoppage violated a no-strike clause in the bargaining agreement between the agency and ATU.

A county judge rejected VTA’s request for a temporary restraining order to halt the strike on March 17, but asked ATU to come back to court on Wednesday to argue why the strike is not a violation of the agreement.