South Bay Transit Workers to Vote on New VTA Contract Offer After Historic Strike

More than 1,500 transit workers in the South Bay — who staged a historic 17-day strike in March over wages and benefits negotiations with the Valley Transportation Authority — are set to vote on a new contract offer from the agency on Tuesday.

The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265, which represents bus drivers, light rail operators, maintenance workers and dispatchers, confirmed its members will vote on the latest offer from the VTA, which includes a 14.5% wage increase over a period of four years.

“I couldn’t even tell you confidently which way the vote’s going to go,” Raj Singh, the president of ATU Local 265, said Monday afternoon. “I think it’s going to be a very divided vote.”

The vote comes more than two months after Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Daniel T. Nishigaya issued a preliminary injunction to end the union’s strike. The VTA had sought the injunction, claiming the union breached the “no-strike” clause of their contract by walking off the job.

The ruling brought an abrupt end to a grueling work stoppage that left tens of thousands of daily riders in the region without transportation and was marked by bitter exchanges between the union and the agency, which often blamed each other for the dispute.

Workers were forced back to their jobs on March 27. Singh said the agency and the union leadership had met three times since early April to continue contract negotiations.

Stacey Hendler Ross, a spokesperson for VTA, said Monday the agency is hopeful for a positive vote.

“It’s been several months now that employees have gone without a contract. We are eager to get this settled and have people move on and get the raises they deserve and kind of put this behind us,” she said.

She added that the contract offer is based on the agency’s “financial realities,” as the VTA, which is primarily funded by sales taxes, is facing a potential $14 million budget deficit in 2027.

“These financial constraints have made it essential for all labor agreements, not just ATUs, to remain within sustainable budget limits,” she said. “We want to be able to pay employees a fair, competitive contract and, at the same time, we need to be able to continue to serve our customers.”

Prior to the court ruling, union members overwhelmingly rejected the agency’s previous contract offer, which included an 11% raise over a period of three years. The current offer adds a fourth year onto the deal, which matches the contract lengths of other VTA labor groups.

Singh said the agency and union also negotiated terms ensuring the agency won’t seek punishments or retaliation against the union members for their strike actions, which the prior offer didn’t include.

While it includes some positive changes, Singh said he doesn’t feel the wage proposal is a fair deal for the union, but felt compelled to bring the latest offer to a vote so members can voice their opinion.

He accused VTA of “politely threatening” the union by noting there might not be another chance to get a deal approved by the agency’s board of directors for a month or more because of the Fourth of July holiday.

“We are at the point where we’ve been negotiating over eight months, and the agency is using the time and the injunction against us at this point,” Singh said. “They want to continue dragging their feet, and we owe it to our members to put this offer in front of them and let them decide if they are acceptable to the terms.”

Hendler Ross said the agency has “been eager and open” to negotiating the entire length of the contract dispute.

“There is nothing that VTA has done or would do to drag its feet or to draw this out. It’s not to anyone’s benefit to do that,” she said.

Singh said voting will likely take place all day Tuesday to give members on different shifts a chance to cast their vote, and results could be ready by early Wednesday.