Bus strike may be looming in Reno-Sparks

Friday, May 28, 1999 | 9:37 a.m.

Lou Martino, the secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 533, said he has been disappointed by a delay in negotiations. The current contract expires June 11.

"The clock is ticking," Martino told the Daily Sparks Tribune.

"Considering all the complexities, I cannot see how this company and the union can settle all the issues ... A labor disruption, at this point, is likely," he said.

"All they've done so far is ask questions," he said. "We have not even started really discussing the points."

More than 93 percent of Teamsters Local 533 members who work for Citifare voted last weekend to authorize a strike if a new contract is not reached before the old one expires. More than 100 Citifare drivers, dispatchers and customer service workers are members of the union.

Citifare Transit Manager Michael Steele said the company managing Citifare for the Regional Transportation Commission, Ryder/ATE Inc., is carefully considering the contract proposals. He played down the chance of a strike.

"This will be actually the sixth time we've negotiated a contract with the Teamsters. We've always been able to reach agreement and we are working very hard to reach an agreement this time," Steele told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Among the issues being negotiated are safety concerns, retirement benefits, wages and health care, the Teamsters report.

Martino said the union wants a clause in the new contract making it so bid drivers - drivers who choose their routes via a bid process - get a mandatory 10 hours off between their shifts. The union also wants at least 12 hours off between shifts for extra-board drivers who do not choose their routes.

Another concern the union has, Martino said, is that the company is taking advantage of part-time employees by working them full-time hours and not giving them benefits while cutting the hours of full-time employees.

Transit Management of Washoe County/ATE Rider placed an advertisement Wednesday in several local publications seeking possible strike drivers, who would be paid $10.97 per hour.

"Citifare is accepting applications for coach operators," the advertisement reads. "Positions may become available on or after June 12, 1999. Employment would be during the pendency of a labor dispute."

RTC spokeswoman Nancy Pearl said the advertisement was placed as a precaution. She said it is the RTC's duty to make sure the buses keep running, even in the event of a strike.

She said the RTC is not involved in the negotiations, but believes an agreement can be reached without a strike.

"Everything is progressing calmly," she said. "Everybody is negotiating in good faith."