Striking bus drivers don’t draw political attention

Erin Neff

Wednesday, June 12, 2002 | 11:03 a.m.

Las Vegas is lauded nationwide for being one of the most labor friendly towns -- a city where politicians respect unions and where organized labor holds most of its big conventions.

So how can a strike by some 500 bus drivers -- an action crippling ridership and revenues for the mass transit system -- plod into its fourth week without any politician giving more than a passing glance at it?

For starters there is little politicians can do, and some political observers note, the union does not command the type of respect or threaten the level of economic disruption as the Culinary Union.

Regional Transportation Commission Chairman Bruce Woodbury said his board has "actually been pretty actively involved behind the scenes."

"We are limited in what we can do because of the contract and federal labor laws," said Woodbury, who is also a Clark County commissioner.

Michael Bowers, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said local politicians have little at stake with the strike.

"You're not talking about a politically powerful union," Bowers said. "There's nothing in it for politicians to take a major public stand."

Threatened strikes by Culinary and Bartenders unions in downtown casinos carry far greater economic consequences for Las Vegas, he added.

The RTC issued a press release and last week encouraged both the company, ATC, and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1637 to return to the negotiating table. But there has been no resounding statements, press conferences or actions from other politicians even as talks broke down May 16 and ATC has begun hiring replacement drivers.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said he would only step in if both sides requested his help at the bargaining table. And Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera said he does not want to overstep the RTC's jurisdiction.

Herrera, who stepped in on the Nevada Power rate case when the county intervened and who is a leading opponent of Yucca Mountain, said only that ATC needs to offer a better contract.

"I think it's extremely irresponsible for this multinational corporation to limit bus service to my constituents," said Herrera, a Democratic candidate for Nevada's 3rd Congressional District. "This multinational corporation has to pay these workers a reasonable wage so they can handle their escalating health care costs."

Beyond stated support for the bus drivers, Democrats have been unusually quiet during this strike.

"I haven't heard a word from my constituents," said State Democratic Chairman Terry Care, who is also a state senator representing a district in Las Vegas with 40 mobile home parks and a large senior citizen population which accounts for a large percentage of bus ridership.

Some have suggested the RTC can insert itself more aggressively to encourage the parties to restart the talks by bringing up ATC's franchise agreement for review.

But Woodbury said there's little cause to review the contract because the RTC is not technically losing money.

The strike has cut the number of daily passengers on the system in half, to about 75,000 daily and has reduced farebox revenues by about $30,000 a day. But since there are also fewer buses on the road, the RTC has fewer operational costs and essentially breaks even, Woodbury said.

The contract allows the RTC to liquidate company assets as damages, and threatening the sale of buses could result in a multimillion-dollar hammer over the company's head.

But Woodbury said he believes only the company and union's mutual economic interests will get them back to the bargaining table.

And the two sides are showing no progress.

ATC spokeswoman Valerie Michael said the company is waiting for a proposal from the union.

"We're waiting and we haven't seen anything," she said.

Union president Frank Opdyke said the union has a proposal but won't present it unless the company calls for more negotiations.

"We have a proposal right now that if they sat across from us at the table, we'd give it to them," he said.

With the two sides expressing such unwillingness to concede any ground, politicians who do step in could end up looking "impotent and ineffective" if the strike is never settled, Bowers said.

"Politicians aren't willing to throw themselves on the grenade for this," Bowers said.

Sun reporter Launce Rake contributed to this article.