VTA’s Striking Workers Postpone Contract Vote as Agency Plans Sunday Meeting

Updated 6:20 p.m. Friday

Striking transit workers in the South Bay will postpone a planned Saturday vote on a new contract offer from the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, after the agency asked union leaders to hold off until a special closed-session meeting could be held Sunday, according to union officials.

The VTA Board of Directors will meet Sunday at 10 a.m. to further discuss the ongoing negotiations with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265, according to the union’s president, Raj Singh. The meeting was announced after ATU leaders encouraged their members to vote against the latest contract offer from VTA negotiators. It could signal an 11th-hour attempt from VTA leaders to avoid allowing the historic strike by more than 1,500 bus drivers, train operators and maintenance workers to extend into a third week.

“The first two weeks now, essentially, the agency showed no urgency in trying to resolve the matter,” Singh said. “And so the fact that they’re [calling a special meeting] now, I hope it’s a step in the right direction.”

A spokesperson for the VTA confirmed the planned meeting late Friday.

Earlier Friday, the VTA said that it had revised its previous offer to ATU, whose members have been off the job since March 10 over stalled contract negotiations, affecting tens of thousands of people who rely daily on transit in the South Bay.

The VTA’s current offer to the union is a contract proposal that includes 10.5% raises over three years, with 4% in the first year, followed by 3%, and 3.5% in the subsequent years.

That proposal represents a 1.5% increase from the VTA’s previous offer of 9%, and comes a day after the VTA told KQED progress was made in negotiations on Wednesday regarding other key sticking points, including tentative changes to arbitration when employees file grievances.

For several weeks, the union’s ask has been for an 18% raise over three years.

On Friday afternoon, Singh said the union agreed to a compromise on arbitration, and feels the agency’s wage offer isn’t a fair one, pointing to the 4% annual raise that VTA General Manager Carolyn Gonot received in January. Singh indicated a 12% raise over three years would be something the union might accept.

“I think it would be fair to give us essentially what they gave the general manager at least,” Singh said. “So at least seeing fours across the board would be fair.”

Singh said the union has also asked the VTA to guarantee that no union workers or leaders will face discipline or civil charges for their participation in the strike, and asked that all workers in the union be immediately reinstated when the strike ends, including those on probation or in training. Singh said the VTA in its previous offer rejected those asks.

It’s unclear what specifics the board members will discuss Sunday, or what revised offer, if any, they will make to the union.

Earlier Friday, the agency said its latest offer “is highly competitive and fair,” and reiterated that VTA operators are the second-highest paid among Bay Area transit workers, and said its mechanics are the highest paid in the country.

“Throughout lengthy negotiations, VTA has gone above and beyond to accommodate union demands, including agreeing to the union’s proposed arbitration language and significantly enhancing dental coverage at the union’s request,” the agency said.

In a letter posted on its website earlier Friday, ATU’s leadership had notified members of the previously planned special membership meeting on Saturday, with voting also scheduled to take place.

The union leadership said it held two meetings with VTA officials on Thursday, and recommended that its members vote against the current contract.

“Management made it clear they would not offer more than a total 10.5% increase, justifying their position by citing reasons such as ATU’s highest offer in the past decade, claims that we are ‘uneducated workers,’ budget constraints, and the potential need to cut services,” the letter said.

“Since we have once again hit a deadlock and the agency refuses to budge, we are putting the offer to a membership vote. However, let there be no misunderstanding – your leadership has NOT agreed to this proposal. Your Negotiations Team is strongly recommending a UNANIMOUS NO VOTE,” the letter concluded.

Tens of thousands of people use VTA buses and light rail trains every day, according to the agency, with roughly 100,000 riders on weekdays, including large proportions of students and low-income earners.

The union has said in previous statements that its members were on strike due to what it perceived as the agency wasting time in six months of negotiations that began in August, as well as concerns over arbitration, extended leave for injury or illness, and respect and fairness for its members’ work.

Stacey Hendler Ross, a spokesperson for VTA, said earlier on Friday that the agency hopes union members will approve the new offer and choose to end the strike.

“VTA is trying to make incremental movement over the wage proposal just to get people back to work even though the agency is headed into a $40 million deficit for next year,” Hendler Ross said.

“We can only hope that workers will see this as the fair and competitive offer that it is and come back to work so we can get our passengers back on the road,” she said.

Singh, on Friday afternoon, seemed unconvinced about the agency’s inability to up its offer.  “There is plenty of cushion in the budget for them to offer something more,” he said.

The agency and the union have traded sharp rhetoric during the now 12-day strike, including blaming one another for the work stoppage.

“ATU leadership has held its members and the riders who depend on public transportation for their livelihood hostage for two weeks,” the VTA said in its statement.

The union can choose to end the strike and allow employees back to work at any time, including before a new contract is made official.