VTA employees voting on a new contract to end stalemate
VTA employees voting on a new contract to end stalemate
Hundreds of union VTA employees are voting on a new contract proposal from the transit agency.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Hundreds of union VTA employees are voting on a new contract proposal from the transit agency.
If approved, a favorable vote would end a stalemate that has stretched since the end of last year.
Voting began on Tuesday at 4 a.m. and continues all day and will wrap up at 10 p.m.
It will take a simple majority of the vote for the union to approve the contract, which the VTA says is "fair and competitive."
The union, ATU265, and the VTA have been at odds over a new contract since December 2024.
After negotiations stalled, roughly 1,500 bus drivers and light rail operators walked off the job on March 10.
That left roughly 100,000 daily riders stuck without a way to get around the South Bay.
On March 26, a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge ruled the ongoing strike violated a "no strike" clause that was in effect during negotiations.
That forced striking workers back on the job, with bus service resuming March 28 and light rail service coming back online days later.
The two sides last met face-to-face on May 22.
The offer that's on the table includes VTA increasing the pay 14.5% over four years and giving enhanced dental benefits, providing an appeal voucher for disagreements, and having improved workplace policies.
"We felt obligated at the point where we are in negotiations to let the members decide and give us direction," ATU Local 265 president Raj Singh said. "Going around and talking to members face-to-face for the last week or so I feel that this is going to be a split vote. So this is going to be close."
Singh said there's still bad blood over how long it's taken to get to this point, with other contracts already being settled.
VTA spokeswoman Stacey Hendler Ross said that this contract is "significantly different in that there's an extra year tacked on to it."
Ordinarily, she said the VTA has had a three-year contract with ATU. But this time, she said, it's a four-year contract "which is on par with the other three unions that we have at VTA which we've already settled new contracts with."
She added: "We look forward to our employees approving it so we can put this all behind us."
The remaining sticking point — long-term leave of absence.
To break up this type of leave, a union worker has to work 60 consecutive days, instead of the current 30.
If the contract is approved, it would take effect June 9 pending approval of the VTA board of directors on Thursday.