SAN JOSE, Calif. — The union representing workers at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority has informed the agency of an intent to strike as of 12:01 a.m. on Monday, March 10.
The VTA was informed of the strike plan by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 at a board meeting on Thursday, March 6, KNTV reports. The union represents more than 1,500 workers, including light rail operators, dispatchers, and bus drivers. Its current contract expired March 3.
The VTA says on its website that bus and light rail operations may not run as of Monday morning, and that routes running after midnight on Monday could be subject to interruption. Paratransit services will continue, the agency said previously, while urging residents and businesses to “start preparing for alternative travel methods.”
The agency says it has offered wage increases of 4%, 3%, and 2%, for a compounded total of 9.3% over the three-year contract period, and that the contract would maintain VTA operates as the second highest paid in the Bay Area and fifth highest in the nation.
“We value our employees and have made a fair and reasonable offer,” VTA Deputy General Manager Greg Richardson said in a statement. “… While VTA has tried to reach an agreement, through conversations as late as this afternoon, there has been no progress. We need the union to return to the bargaining table.”
The union, in a Feb. 28 memo, said that repeated an earlier offer, and told members the VTA has “no real interest in reaching a fair compromise any time soon.”
As D.O.G.E. recommends the downsizing of federal employees & federal expenditures, the High Speed Rail project stated, they need to look for other sources of revenue or the project is doomed.
Let’s not forget that a grand jury report has blasted the San Jose area’s public transit system as “one of the most expensive and least efficient … in the country,” the San Jose Mercury News reported.
As much as they deserve a raise, it’s a bad time to strike & public sympathy may not be toward the employees or the VTA.
“Most expensive and least efficient….” Fortunately, the San Jose Mercury News hasn’t investigated Milwaukee’s trolley. Zero farebox recovery, as nobody would pay to ride the silly thing.
If I had to guess, the silly thing costs (combined operaton and capital recovery) hundreds of dollars per free ride.
Counting bus systems, Milwaukee once again must lead the nation. Milwaukee County Transit System buses often run with two or three riders, if that many.
Compare that to Seattle’s crowded light rail, or Boston’s Green Line D-Riverside train, where sometimes there’s not even space to stand, let alone sit.
Very well done! Right after the railroad puts into service a huge capital investment to improve the customer experience, the employees decide to force customers back to their cars.