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Omnitrans drivers reject contract
Strike possible within weeks if negotiations halt
Article Launched:08/31/2007 09:16:37 PM PDT
By Andrew Silva

Staff Writer

A strike by Omnitrans drivers is possible in the next few weeks after union members on Friday rejected the latest contract offer.

"If they refuse to negotiate any further, we'll set a strike date," said Dale Moore, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1704, which represents the agency's 445 drivers.

He said the union would give enough notice to allow the public to prepare.

Omnitrans officials agreed they would meet at least one more time with a mediator if the offer was not accepted, said Wendy Williams, spokeswoman for Omnitrans.

The only other strike in the 30-year history of the agency occurred in 1980 and lasted three days.

The union voted 229-113 to reject the contract offer.

"Obviously, we're disappointed they rejected an offer that was generous and would have put money in their pockets and reduced their expenses," Williams said.

The agency, which serves roughly 50,000 riders a day throughout the San Bernardino Valley, offered more than 9 percent in salary increases over the next three years but no retroactive pay.

It also establishes for the first time an account for health benefits for retirees.

The previous contract expired March 31.

Instead of making the pay increases retroactive, the agency offered a one-time payment of $175.

"That $175 basically was a bad-faith offer," Moore said. "We worked the whole time. (The agency) is just picking our pockets."

The union also wants a guarantee that drivers and their families will be protected against future increases in health-insurance premiums.

Moore said there's some relief in the first year of the contract, but drivers worry that increases in premiums later could leave them back where they started or worse.

The agency will update its contingency plan for a strike in case negotiations fail, Williams said.

That can include seeing who in the agency is qualified to drive and also looking at hiring replacement drivers, she said.

"A strike is bad for the customers, bad for the employees and bad for the agency," Williams said. "We hope it doesn't come to that."

Contact writer Andrew Silva at (909) 386-3889 or via e-mail at andrew.silva@sbsun.com.

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Bus drivers union sets strike date for Omnitrans

10:03 AM PDT on Tuesday, September 25, 2007

By IMRAN GHORI
The Press-Enterprise

Omnitrans bus drivers could go out on strike, leaving thousands of passengers stranded, if negotiations between their union and the transit agency are not resolved by mid-October.

The board of directors of the Amalgmated Transit Union Local 1704, which represents 433 drivers, voted Saturday to set Oct. 12 as a strike date, union President Dale Moore said.

"If we're unsuccessful in reaching an agreement by that date, we will go on strike by that time," he said.

Omnitrans spokeswoman Wendy Williams said the agency was disappointed by the vote and hopes a strike can be avoided. The union and management are scheduled to meet in mediation on Oct. 2 and 3.

"Hopefully, at that point the sides can come up with a package everyone can agree on, and we don't have to see both our customers and employees suffer by disrupted service," she said.

Williams said the agency has a contingency plan in case of a strike. It has 50 supervisors licensed to drive buses that could keep the agency running on reduced schedules and routes, she said.

The agency operates in 15 cities and in unincorporated areas of San Bernardino County from Chino to Yucaipa, providing service to about 50,000 passengers a day.

Bus drivers have been working without a contract since March 31, when the previous three-year agreement expired. The two sides have been negotiating since January but have been unable to come to an agreement over back pay and health-care premium payments.

On Aug. 31, the union's membership voted to reject what the agency termed its "best and final offer."

The contract offered a 3 percent annual wage increase over three years, paid a larger share of health-care premiums for employees' families and included a onetime goodwill payment of $175.

Union officials say the wage increase should be retroactive to when the last contract expired and that the health-care premium increases don't keep up with rising costs in the second and third years of the contract.

Moore said the union also believes Omnitrans is engaging in bad-faith bargaining in its treatment of himself and other union leaders. In May, Moore was fired -- the second time in three years in which the agency has fired the union's local president during labor negotiations.

During contract talks in 2004, Omnitrans fired union President Bill Truppe in a move later overturned by the California Public Employment Relations Board.

Moore said management has made it difficult for him to talk with his members at the Omnitrans office.

"In that type of environment it's hard to resolve anything," he said.

Williams has said that Moore was dismissed for violating the agency's unexcused absence policy, not in retaliation. She said he is subject to the same rules as other visitors to the Omnitrans office.

Martin Yedwalsky, an Omnitrans bus driver for seven years, said he and other employees don't want to inconvenience their passengers but feel they have little choice.

"There's a lot of drivers that just feel we're backed into a corner," he said.

Reach Imran Ghori at 909-806-3061 or ighori@PE.com

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Bus strike averted
Omnitrans management, leaders of drivers' union agree on contract
Stephen Wall, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 10/04/2007 10:41:52 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO - The Omnitrans bus drivers' union and management officials announced a tentative agreement on a new contract Thursday, averting a walk-out that was set to start next week.

The two sides were able to resolve their differences on pay increases, health benefits and back pay, union and management leaders said.

Bus drivers were expected to start striking next Friday, dealing a blow to the roughly 50,000 daily passengers who rely on the public transit service in the San Bernardino Valley.

Omnitrans had prepared contingency plans to keep many routes operating on reduced schedules during a strike.

Those plans are now delayed indefinitely.

Both sides expressed confidence that the deal would be approved by the union's membership and the Omnitrans board of directors in coming weeks.

"We're pleased that we got it worked out," said Dale Moore, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1704, which represents about 445 Omnitrans drivers. "We're pleased that the company decided to be reasonable and settle this thing. That's what we wanted."

The agency was able to accept the union's latest demand for a 10 percent wage increase over three years by reallocating funds
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in the budget, Omnitrans officials said.

Management previously had offered 9 percent over three years.

"We deferred implementation of the retiree health-care account until next April and reduced the contribution amount from $75 to $52 a month so that we could afford to put more money into wages and still stay within the budget parameters set by the board," said Omitrans Marketing Director Wendy Williams.

Omnitrans also agreed to double its offer of a one-time "goodwill payment" from $175 to $350 to offset the delay in settling the contract, Williams said.

Union and management representatives participated in mediated negotiations for several hours Tuesday and Wednesday before reaching the agreement.

The two sides have met 31 times since January on the terms of a new three-year contract.

The previous contract expired March 31.

Union members are expected to vote on the new contract Thursday

If approved by the membership, the agreement will go before the Omnitrans board for ratification on Nov. 7.

"I'm very glad that (union) leaders have agreed to an all-around good offer and we can continue to keep the busses moving," said Durand Rall, chief executive officer and general manager of Omnitrans. "Our riders depend on us."

Moore said he was pleased the agency agreed to pay a larger share of families' health insurance premiums.

He also applauded the agency's decision to make monthly contributions toward a new retiree health-care account.

The tentative agreement also calls for increased life insurance and paid bereavement leave.

Under the new contract, the starting hourly wage for drivers would increase to $14.43 and the top hourly wage would rise to $19.34.

"In any settlement, there's concessions," Moore said. "The people would have been hurt by a strike. We have a lot of people in the county like school kids, the elderly and the disabled who have no other way to get around. We care about our public."

Contact writer Stephen Wall at (909) 386-3916 or via e-mail at stephen.wall@sbsun.com.