South Bay Transit Workers Call Strike, Set to Halt VTA Bus and Rail Service

Updated at 3:22 p.m.

More than 1,500 South Bay transit workers plan to strike beginning Monday, disrupting Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority bus and rail service, if a new contract deal cannot be reached, officials said.

Raj Singh, the president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265, informed the VTA Board of Directors of the decision at its meeting on Thursday evening, more than six months after the two sides began negotiations over a new pay and benefits contract.

“No ATU member will be rolling buses, or the light rail, or any other service provided by ATU members,” Singh said. “We hope, either today or in the near future, you guys give us something that is fair and equitable.”

The union’s bus drivers, train operators, maintenance workers and dispatchers make up about 70% of VTA’s total workforce, and a strike could effectively grind the entire agency’s services to a halt.

The strike is scheduled to begin at 12:01 a.m. Monday. VTA officials said Friday that bus and light rail service will not run starting Monday morning if the strike occurs, and some routes may be interrupted if they are normally scheduled to run past midnight on Sunday.

Greg Richardson, VTA’s deputy general manager, said during a Friday press conference that the agency is disappointed with ATU for its decision to announce an intent to strike.

“We regret the impact this will have on the tens of thousands of our passengers and customers who rely on our service every day to get to school, to get to work and medical appointments,” Richardson said.

The agency is warning riders to begin making alternative transportation plans like carpooling, ridesharing, taking regional rail, walking and biking. VTA paratransit services are staffed by workers of another union and would not be affected, the agency said.

The ATU and VTA began contract talks in August, and while several deal points have been hammered out since then, the two parties remain far apart on the critical issue of wages. There are also disputes about how the agency should handle employee grievances in arbitration.

VTA negotiators offered their “last, best and final” offer to the union on Feb. 28, which included a 9% raise spread over three years, with 4% offered in the first year, then 3% and 2%, respectively, in the latter years. When compounded over time, agency officials said the total increase is 9.3%.

The union, on the same day, made its most recent ask of the agency, which is for an 18% raise over the same three-year period, with 6% raises each year, according to Singh. When compounded over time, agency officials said the union’s ask would amount to 19.1%.

Richardson said the offer VTA has made to the union will maintain their status as the second-highest paid transit employees in the Bay Area, and could be put into place without any cuts to service or layoffs.

The ATU’s demands are simply too high of a cost for the agency to meet, he said.

“The reality — with a wage increase at that level or anything close to it — would be service cuts throughout our system and the likely elimination of positions across VTA,” he said. “This is not a direction that we are willing to go. We will not cut service to accommodate unreasonable demands.”

At the board meeting Thursday night, Singh said the union has “not had any meaningful conversation with the agency in regards to reaching terms on a new deal” since Feb. 28.

Earlier this week, Singh characterized communication from the agency as “very poor” and accused VTA of not acting in good faith, which an agency spokesperson contested. Singh did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

It’s unclear how many of the estimated 100,000 daily riders that use VTA’s bus and light rail services are already aware of the potential strike. Richardson said the agency has been notifying riders with signage at stations and sending notices to schools and cities in Santa Clara County to try and reach as many people as possible.

“These are folks who are trying to get to their job. And if they’re not aware of it and they’re having to clock in, clock out, this is going to be something that could impact them dramatically. And it’s not something that we want to see,” Richardson said.

Adele Cuevas of Santa Clara stepped off a light rail stop near Levi’s Stadium Friday afternoon on her way home from work. She’s an in-home caretaker and relies on the VTA’s light rail and buses to get to her clients all over the South Bay. She was notified about the possible strike on the VTA.

“I’m probably gonna lose a lot of clients because I can only do ones that are closer to me,” Cuevas said about the possible strike. “I don’t think it should happen, because it does help those of us out that have to use the transportation. It does suck, but it is what it is.”

As of Friday afternoon, Richardson said no talks were scheduled over the weekend between the union and the agency but didn’t rule out that the strike could still be averted with a last-minute deal.

“We have always maintained that we are open to having those conversations with [ATU] to find a solution,” Richardson said.