The Orange County Transportation Authority is warning bus passengers to make alternative transit plans next week due to the possibility of a strike by OCTA’s maintenance workers union, who have been working under a contract that expired on September 30 of this year.
“Bus passengers should start to plan alternate ways to travel beginning as soon as Monday, Oct. 17, after the Orange County Transportation Authority was notified that its maintenance employees may go on strike,” the agency said in a statement.
The OCTA’s 150 mechanics and service workers are represented by Teamsters Local 952. The agency and the union plan to continue negotiations this weekend in hopes of reaching agreement on a contract. A strike by maintenance workers would being Orange County bus service to a halt.
The union and the agency have already met more than 20 times during contract negotiations.
For approximately 85% of OCTA bus system riders, it is their primary means of getting around. They typically do not have cars or at least reliable access to one, and more than half have a total household income of less than $50,000.
“We know that any interruption in bus service hurts the people in our community who rely on OC Bus to get where they need to be, whether that’s jobs or to school,” said OCTA Chairman Mark A. Murphy, also the Mayor of Orange. “That’s why we want to avoid a strike. There’s no reason we can’t continue negotiating to reach a resolution without putting the burden on bus passengers.”
The OCTA already negotiated a three-year contract with the same union back in February, covering the agency’s bus drivers. An agreement with the union representing employees in OCTA’s Operations Division was also reached that month.
“We believe the contract offer we’ve made to maintenance employees is in line with what was offered to our coach operators and other union workers. It’s a generous offer that is very competitive in the marketplace,” Chairman Murphy said.
