AC Transit To Appeal Court-Ordered Mediation With Drivers

AC Transit's board of directors has voted to appeal legal rulings that forced the bus agency into binding arbitration with employees and ordered it to keep operating under the terms of its old contract while negotiations continue, officials said Thursday.

Interim General Manager Mary King and the board majority said they want to appeal because the district already faces a $56 million budget deficit, and returning to what they believe are inefficient and expensive union work rules is costing AC Transit an additional $1.2 million a month.

King also said the district, which is seeking $15.7 million in labor cost savings, believed its financial decisions should be made by its board members, not by judges.

In a statement, King said, "The district rightly believes that the decisions about its future and its union contracts belong to the elected leaders who represent the people of the transit district."

"We can't allow a third-party without any accountability, understanding or right to make decisions that will bind the district, its riders and the taxpayers to fiscally unsound decisions," she said. "That is what happened in the city of Vallejo, and we can't allow that to happen here."

Directors at AC Transit, which serves parts of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, voted on June 30 to impose a new contract on its 1,750 employees, including 1,200 bus drivers, after three months of negotiations stalled.

But on July 16, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch ordered the bus agency to engage in binding arbitration with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 192 to try to reach an agreement on a new contract.

The district still imposed the new contract on July 18, but on Aug. 2 another judge, Judge Judith Ford, ruled that the district must honor the terms of the old contract during the arbitration process, which is expected to be lengthy.

There was a large increase in absenteeism by bus drivers after management imposed the new contract, which included changed rules on scheduling and overtime.

Management alleged that drivers were engaging in a sickout by ATU, but lead union negotiator Claudia Hudson has denied that was the case and said instead that the absences were caused by poor planning and inadequate training on the part of management.

"I was very disappointed to hear that AC Transit is once again trying to dodge negotiations," Hudson said.

She said the district has lost all of its legal battles with the union so far and that she thinks it will lose again in the appellate courts.

A preliminary arbitration hearing was scheduled for Friday, and arbitration on substantive issues wss scheduled to begin on Monday.

AC Transit spokesman Clarence Johnson said that management plans to participate in arbitration and honor the terms of the old contract while it waits for its appeal to be heard.

It might take a few weeks for that to happen, he said.

The board voted 4-2 at its meeting Wednesday night to appeal the legal rulings.

Directors Rocky Fernandez and Elsa Ortiz voted "no," and director Joel Young abstained.

King said AC Transit has already taken major steps to balance its budget, such as raising fares, reducing service and eliminating general and administrative staff positions.

She said it must now consider a variety of additional difficult options, including eliminating most weekend bus service.