Strike to halt SE Valley buses

Drivers reject final contract offer; 40 lines are affected

Tens of thousands of southeast Valley residents who rely on buses to get to work were warned to find alternative transportation this morning after drivers turned down their transit company’s final offer and voted overwhelmingly to strike.

Late Wednesday, the company said it sent union officials a last-minute offer to address a sticking point in hopes of averting a strike. A union official said he was meeting with a federal mediator to discuss returning to the negotiating table, but as of 11:15 p.m., the company had not agreed to a time frame and a strike was still planned.

Earlier in the day, officials with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1433, which represents about 400 southeast Valley bus drivers, said drivers were expected to start picketing the Mesa and Tempe operations centers of First Transit when the contract extension expired at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday.

“The members rejected the employers’ best and final offer by 95 percent,” union negotiator

Michael Cornelius told The Arizona Republic. “The strike will happen by midnight.”

Forty of Valley Metro Regional Public Transportation Authority’s 101 Phoenix-area bus lines would cease. Transit officials said the 40 routes in jeopardy average 57,000 weekday boardings. Light rail will not be affected.

The central issue in the dispute does not involve wages, union officials say. Rather, it involves “man- agement rights” with First Transit’s operating contract with the Valley Metro RPTA. The union fears RPTA could order First Transit to violate the union’s labor agreement by unilaterally reducing driver wages or cutting work hours.

First Transit spokesman Nick Promponas told the Republic late Wednesday that the company has sent changes tied to the management-rights provision in the hopes of averting a strike.

First Transit wants drivers to consider not walking so that the sides may return to the table this morning.

“Our goal is to not disrupt the community, especially those folks who rely on the service,” Promponas said.

A transit strike would be the second such stoppage in the Valley in 18 months. In March 2012, one of two transit companies serving the Valley at the time went on a limited six-day strike, providing only skeleton service in Phoenix and Tempe.

The current dispute could bring a complete shutdown affecting the entire southeast Valley, parts of Scottsdale and Ahwatukee Foothills, as well as downtown Phoenix express routes to and from those communities.

First Transit spokeswoman Jen Biddinger said drivers were welcome and have the right to show up for work, although under the union agreement, they are not allowed to drive a bus. She did not know if drivers crossing the picket line would be assigned other duties during the strike.

Biddinger confirmed that the company has no backup transit plans for Valley residents, adding that “passengers will need to consider other travel arrangements.”

Phoenix transit officials warned that a strike would affect nine local routes and nine express routes and advised residents to visit the city’s transit website for a list of alternative routes.

Express bus lines to downtown Phoenix and the Scottsdale Airpark are considered major Valley transit arteries for workers who commute from the southeast Valley.

Valley Metro also has advised the thousands of Valley residents who depend on buses to get to work, appointments and health care to look for alternative transporta- tion and to visit the company’s website to search for carpool options. They said Metro light rail may have increased train service if demand warrants.

Late Wednesday, officials with the Local 1433 and First Transit, a United Kingdom-based corporation, began a publicrelations battle that is common in labor strikes that pit corporations against labor unions.

Representatives for the parties sought to win favor with the thousands of public-transit passengers that will be affected by a strike amid the Valley’s hottest summer month.

“The bottom line is we want it to end quickly,” said lead union negotiator Cornelius. “We want to be there for the passengers. Unfortunately, there’s a huge foreign multinational company standing in the way.”

Biddinger apologized to commuters.

“First and foremost, we are disappointed in the decision by the union and regret that we are unable to reach an agreement,” she said, adding that First Transit laments “the uncertainty this is causing passengers.”

But a diverse mix of bus commuters waiting for buses in the scorching heat Wednesday in the southeast Valley had their own message for the sides: Keep the buses running.

“I need it for work, for groceries, for everything,” said Brigid Byrne, who waited for a Tempe bus near Mill Avenue and Broadway Road.

“I support the workers, they deserve their rights. But, please, figure it out fast …(or) we will lose our jobs.”

Mesa resident Emmanuel Santillan said he rides the bus from his home in Mesa to work in Tempe.

“These buses were going to be a lot of help to get to work and back, now I’m just going to have to resort to other means, most likely a bike to get there,” Santillan said.

He called the strike a threat to his livelihood.

“If they’re all canceled tomorrow, I’ll probably call off or be screwed over for a while,” Santillan said.

Wednesday’s voting followed more than a month of contentious labor negotiations, which included allegations of union-busting and complaints filed by the union with the National Labor Relations Board against First Transit.

Biddinger and Cornelius said the parties have not met since last Friday’s talks.

Cornelius said Tuesday that the company’s move to end talks earlier than today’s deadline with a final contract offer, which the union believes is not equitable for workers, triggered the decision not to endorse the contract and allow drivers to vote on the contract.

First Transit officials have stressed that they are offering existing wages and comparable health insurance.

“We believe the offer we presented is fair and equitable, especially given the current economy,” Biddinger said.

Cornelius has said that wages are not a major issue in the contract negotiations and that the union has proposed accepting existing wages in a oneyear contract.

However, he said that First Transit has asked drivers to accept significant hikes in their healthcare contributions.

A major sticking point is a company proposal that would give Valley Metro greater management rights to fire and direct union members, which Cornelius has said is a deal breaker.

“The strike is on for one reason — management rights,” he said. “Under that proposal, we have no rights. As long as that is in there, there’s a strike.”

Biddinger said the next step is for the company to contact a federal mediator to determine why the union rejected the contract.