VTA drivers set to strike: All bus, light rail service expected to shut down Monday
VTA strike set for Monday; all bus & light rail service could shut down
VTA transit drivers could walk off the job at 12:01am Monday morning; VTA says it could be forced to suspend all bus and light rail service.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - If you ride VTA’s light rail or buses in Santa Clara County, you may face no service at all come Monday. The union representing transit workers has called for a strike and – as of Friday afternoon – no new talks are scheduled for this weekend.
This strike – if it occurs – will impact about 100,000 riders each day who use the VTA system.
The union notified the VTA on Thursday night that it plans to strike, starting at 12:01 a.m. Monday morning, and that could wipe out all service for the Monday morning commute and beyond.
At the VTA’s Civic Center light rail station on Friday, passengers were coming and going to work and to appointments. VTA said it does plan to put up signs advising of the pending strike but as of Friday afternoon, none could be found at this particular station.
Passengers like April Velasquez rely on VTA to get them where they are going.
"To job interviews, to groups, to meetings, to work... For everything," said Velasquez, a VTA light rail passenger.
On Friday, the VTA held a news conference to update the status of the potential strike.
VTA plans for no service starting Monday due to labor strike announcement
Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority plans to have no service starting Monday, because of a labor union strike, the agency announced Thursday evening.
"We regret the impact that will have on the tens of thousands of our passengers and customers," said Greg Richardson, deputy general manager of VTA.
Richardson said the agency has offered raises of 9.3% over three years, which makes drivers and operators the fifth-highest paid in the entire nation.
Richardson said that in the latest negotiating session, the union asked for a 19.1% increase over that same period, which he said is simply not possible.
"The reality with a wage increase of this level, or anything close to it, would be service cuts throughout our system and the likely elimination of positions across VTA. This is not a direction that we are willing to go," Richardson said.
The VTA previously told KTVU that the agency has been negotiating a new contract with the union since August. The last contract expired this past Monday and on Thursday night, the union sent the VTA an official strike notice.
VTA bus and light rail routes serve Santa Clara County from Palo Alto in the north to Gilroy in the south.
Come Monday, the 100,000 daily passengers may need to find a new way to get to work, school, or appointments.
"I am going to be stuck. I don’t know what to do – I don’t know how I will get around. I am not going to walk," said Lawrence Porter, a VTA light rail passenger.
"We will not cut service to accommodate unreasonable demands," Richardson said.
KTVU did reach out several times on Friday to the president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 – which represents the drivers and light rail operators– and did not receive a reply.
The VTA added that its specialized paratransit service will not be impacted and will still operate as usual should a strike occur.