SAN JOSE, Calif. — The union representing striking Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority workers called off a scheduled contract vote on Saturday, as the VTA board called a special meeting today (Sunday, March 23) to consider its next steps.
KRON-TV reports that a spokesman for Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 said the vote was postponed at the request of the VTA. Union leadership had recommended rejection of the latest offer from the VTA, which increased the agency’s offer from raises totaling 9% (uncompounded) over three years to 10.5%. [See “Striking workers to vote …,” Trains News Wire, March 21, 2025]. The union has been seeking 6% raises in each of the three years.
The strike began March 10, shutting down light rail and bus service used by about 100,000 riders daily.
The board meeting was set to begin at 10 a.m. PT, with the board taking public comments by videoconferencing before and after a closed session.
No buses or trains but somehow Santa Clara County’s two million residents survive, though I hardly deny it’s a sad hardship for many of them. When people find out they can somehow manage without buses or trains, there are inevitably some who won’t return after the strike.
Santa Clara County still exists two weeks into this strike. Perhaps the county could continue to exist if the system shut down for long enough to fire the strikers and train replacements.
Can it be done? Driving buses and trains, maintaining a transit system, and ensuring 100% safety, is highly skilled work. But so is air traffic control. Reagan fired the striking ATCs. Seemed impossible at the time but we got through it.