MTA strike over; contract OK'd
LOS ANGELES -- The third-longest transit strike in Los Angeles history is over.

Some 4,400 UTU members employed by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority have overwhelmingly ratified a new three-year pact with the agency.

The deal was sealed during a marathon all-night bargaining session brokered by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who literally ran from room to room in the Pasadena Hilton, shuttling offers and counteroffers back and forth, trying to get all sides to reach an agreement.

The pact was embraced by bus and rail operators eager to get back to work and by MTA directors, who said it still allowed them to achieve the $23 million in savings from bus and rail operators they had sought from the outset.

Most importantly, the UTU and the other union members who honored its picket lines were able to fend off the MTA's plans to spin off bus lines into new transit zones without the protection of existing union contracts. They also limited the number of part-time drivers who will be hired by the MTA.

The three-year contract calls for a wage increase that amounts to about 8.3% over three years when quarterly adjustments and a cost-of-living increase are included. The top pay for MTA's most experienced bus drivers will rise from $20.72 an hour to a maximum of $22.50 an hour at the end of the contract. Starting salaries for part-time drivers will be about half the top wage scale.

MTA General Chairperson James Williams characterized the 32-day labor dispute as a long, hard fight, but said, "It is time to move on; it is time to mend the fences. It is time to heal all our wounds."

Union spokesman Goldy Norton said the union "didn't get everything we wanted; they (MTA) didn't get everything they wanted. It's a fair settlement. It protects our members."

UTU International President Charles L. Little praised the work done by the Rev. Jackson in getting the two sides together. "Jesse Jackson took time out from campaigning for Al Gore to help mediate this dispute, and he deserves our thanks and appreciation."

Little also praised Williams for his determination to win his members the best contract possible. "James Williams did an outstanding job for his members. He did not back down under tremendous pressure, and proved to be a tough negotiator."

The protracted labor dispute was spawned by the MTA's push to win concessions from its drivers in order to balance its books and prepare for expansion of its rail programs. The agency argued that it faced an estimated $438-million operating deficit over the next 10 years.

The UTU countered that the agency had grossly overspent on numerous projects and that it would not be allowed to balance its books at the expense of union members.

The agreement does allow the MTA to expand the use of lower-paid, part-time drivers. The contract calls for the number of part-timers to grow from 650 to 980. That total is significantly less, however, than what was proposed in the MTA's "last, best and final offer," which was placed on the table during the finals days of negotiations.

The transit agency also agreed to limit the number of its lowest-paid, entry-level drivers to no more than 150 positions, only slightly more than existed before the strike.

"This union has preserved middle-class jobs," Williams said.

The unions persuaded California Gov. Gray Davis to sign a bill that robs board members of one of their prized goals: the creation of lower-cost suburban "transit zones" that would not have to take into account the unions now representing MTA workers. Transit zones can still be created, but MTA labor contracts will follow workers transferred to them. During negotiations, the UTU and other unions gathered representatives of one-sixth of the state legislature to a private meeting in the governor's office in Los Angeles to underscore their concern about the strike.

MTA driver Jack Dedrick, 37, secretary of UTU Local 1608, praised the unity showed by his fellow members during the strike. "I think it showed them that we wouldn't back down. I think they were surprised that we lasted a month."

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