The Santa Clara County Superior Court ordered the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 members to return to work as of last Friday.
According to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority administration, all bus operations and the Orange Line light rail – running from San Jose to Mountain View – and the Green light rail – running from Campbell to Santa Clara – are available for service.
VTA administrative officers on March 10 filed a breach of contract lawsuit against the union for breaking a 1974 clause in their current contract that does not allow them to engage in a strike. There were approximately 1,500 union members, including bus, light rail operators and other frontline staff, who were involved in the strike, affecting commutes to local community colleges, K-12 schools, hospitals and businesses.
There have been many series of negotiations since the strike took place on March 10. Both ATU and VTA met a couple of times a week leading up to the injunction to find common ground, but nobody in both parties was ever satisfied.
Sergio Lopez, mayor of Campbell and chair of VTA Board of Directors, said at a March 23 press conference following their recent negotiation meeting, that VTA offered the union a revised offer of an 11% merit wage increase over three years, changing the language with arbitration and a compromise with holiday pay.
“This offer at 11% is a significant stretch and proves the agency’s commitment and the board’s commitment to serving the public, ending the strike and getting our system back up and running to protect the seniors, students and workers who depend on our service,” Lopez said. “Our commitment in doing right by our workers and riders is going to mean difficult conversations in the coming months as a result. The reality is that this commitment is going to require us to tighten our belts.”
ATU voted against the offer the next day and it is unknown to Rajvinder Singh, ATU 265 president, when they will meet next.
Singh said despite the disappointing news in court, the union’s camaraderie is at “an all-time high.” Singh hopes to continue negotiations with VTA, but they are still waiting to hear back from labor relations to carry on their meetings. He said in the last 17 days since the strike, the two parties only met five times and believes the agency is not putting any urgency in the issue and blaming the union for not wanting to come to the table.
“Our history with the agency is that every single time we go into negotiations, they’ll start late,” Singh said. “And then once we get into it, bring plenty of items to the table, we always lose six months or a year past the expiration date and we even went on strike this time. Obviously, we had a very important issue with our arbitration section and without that guarantee, no contract really holds any value.”
Singh also confirmed that the buses will be operating on a rolling schedule as of last Friday, but the light rails may be slow to reopen due to damage. Copper wire, used to conduct electricity, was stolen from the sites during the strike.
