A Santa Clara County judge ruled in favor of the Valley Transportation Authority on Wednesday, March 27, ordering Amalgamated Transit Union members to halt their three-week strike.
On March 10, VTA sued the union, citing a previously signed contract that includes a no-strike clause. According to VTA Media Relations, the contract remains in effect during contract negotiations.
“The contract states that if both sides continue negotiating — which ATU notified VTA they wanted to continue doing — then the current contract must be honored until a new contract is agreed on,” VTA Media Relations said. “While that contract is in effect, there is a clause that prohibits the union from going on strike. That was the basis of the lawsuit VTA brought against ATU.”
After more than seven months of unsuccessful negotiations, 265 Amalgamated Transit Union Local workers walked out of their jobs at Valley Transportation Authority on March 10. According to VTA’s website, ATU members approved the potential strike in late February.
“Negotiations continued without resolution, and more than 1,500 VTA employees represented by ATU walked off the job just after midnight,” VTA said in a labor negotiations update.
Zac Bodle, assistant business agent of maintenance for the union, said ATU members want an easy return to work.
“We would definitely like a safe work environment for all the employees to come, some understanding that there’d be no retaliation or any legal action taken against any member due to the strike,” Bodle said. “And obviously a fair compensation for the work that all the operators, mechanics and everyone do.”
VTA Media Relations said now that the strike is over, the agency is working to restore service as quickly as possible.
“It is illegal to retaliate against an employee for going on strike, and VTA has no intention of retaliating or breaking the law,” Media Relations said. “Our employees are being welcomed back enthusiastically because we all understand how important public transit service is to our community.”
As of March 31, ATU is asking for an 18% pay raise over three years, while VTA is offering 11% over the same period.
The union is also asking for fair arbitration of complaints, extended disability leave and higher wages. Bodle said workers think VTA’s handling of the grievance process in particular has been unfair.
“We have a dispute process where we file grievances whenever there’s an issue, so we have a grievance process,” Bodle said. “The agency, about a year and a half ago, decided not to be able to strike for arbitration at certain times. They would claim that we were out of the time limits.”
Union members make up two-thirds of the VTA workforce in Santa Clara County, and Bodle said they think VTA hires too much management.
“We have a classification called electromechanics that work on the trains,” Bodle said. “We’re down to 35, but they have five managers for that department.”
However, VTA Media Relations said the agency sees the situation differently.
“VTA is committed to maintaining an efficient and effective workforce that supports both frontline employees and the overall operation,” VTA Media Relations said. “Leadership and administrative roles are essential to ensuring safe, reliable and sustainable transit services for our riders.”
Despite the judge’s ruling, Bodle said the strike helped the ATU reach some agreements.
“We did meet with the agency, we were able to come to an agreement on the arbitration language,” Bodle said. “Now every case will go through an arbitrator, and that way it’s a non-biased system.”
VTA Media Relations said they hope to conclude negotiations soon. “We’re glad to have our employees back serving the community and providing the essential service our riders rely on,” VTA Media Relations said. “Moving forward, we remain committed to fostering a collaborative relationship with the union to ensure reliable transit for all.”