Thousands of Orange County bus riders were without service Nov. 4 for the second day in a row as the negotiation between the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) and the union representing its maintenance workers came to a deadlock.
Both sides agreed to meet Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Meanwhile, bus service can resume Monday and Tuesday as Teamsters leaders will lift the picket lines for those days so commuters can get to the polls for Election Day.
A union leader said his members want to continue talks but the agency will not budge on its last offer.
“OCTA reached out yesterday to come back to the table and we told them we would come back to the table with the understanding we’re there to bargain,” said Eric Jimenez, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamster Local 952. “They’re playing hardball. We have moved our offer down quite a bit over the past couple of sessions. We have made movement on things they could accept and they’re not willing to do it,” he said.
OCTA spokesman Joel Zlotnik responded by saying that the agency is providing the union with sizable benefits, and they are ready for negotiation regarding the offer.
“We’re willing to continue the discussions. We think the offer on the table is really competitive in the market. In the market we’re in for Southern California, we’re only below LA metro, which is a significantly larger transit system,” he said. “The union chose to strike, ending negotiations. If we’re going to resolve this, it has to be done in negotiations.”
The union called the walkout Nov. 2—setting up picket lines at the agency’s Santa Ana and Garden Grove yards—and Nov. 3 was the first day that bus commuters were left to look for alternate means of getting to and from work, doctor visits, and other appointments.
“People are stranded,” Zlotnik said. “They can’t get to work. They can’t get to school. People are going to lose their jobs, and if the union would come back to the bargaining table and call off the strike, we can get people moving again.”
Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman Doug Chaffee, who also serves on the OCTA board, said that it didn’t appear Gov. Gavin Newsom would step in anytime soon.
“The governor’s been called, but he’s declined to invoke the power he has to temporarily stop the strike,” Chaffee said on Thursday. “The strike may last a while, but I hope not.”
A strike that was previously planned for Oct. 17 was called off when Newsom asked both sides to continue negotiations but the talks fizzled when Teamsters Local 952 claimed OCTA negotiators walked away from the bargaining table on Oct. 31.
According to OCTA, the agency offered a 14.25 percent salary increase over three years, which includes an immediate 5 percent pay hike, another 4.75 percent increase on Oct. 1 of next year, and an additional 4.5 percent raise on Oct. 1 of 2024.
The offer also includes a 16 percent hike in health care contributions over the same period, in addition to chipping in 26.4 percent of salary to the Orange County Employees Retirement System and $1.30 per hour worked—up to 2,080 hours—to the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Fund.
The top wage for mechanics would be $43.19 per hour, or $90,000 annually, which doesn’t include health care and pension contributions, according to the agency.
OCTA officials argued that because the maintenance employees are in the union’s trust for their health insurance benefits, the cost of the plan and design of it is up to the Teamsters.
Union officials with the union say they will not return to talks until the agency has “significantly” updated its bargaining position.
