Thursday, June 27, 2002 | 11:02 a.m.
The bus strike that has stranded thousands of Las Vegas-area riders over the last six weeks is now officially over.
Amalgamated Transit Local 1637 President Frank Opdyke announced shortly after 6 a.m. that drivers had voted 264-117 to end the walkout, which has led to late buses throughout the urban area and cut some routes altogether.
"We're happy to be back to work and doing what we do best," he said.
Opdyke said drivers will likely begin returning to work Sunday and the Citizens Area Transit system could be back to full strength Monday.
Valerie Michael, a spokeswoman for ATC, the operating company, agreed.
"We're very happy and very relieved that it's over," she said. "We're discussing (when drivers will return) today. Probably Monday, but we're trying to move it up a little bit."
But the acceptance of the contract does not mean drivers are happy with the terms, which were worked out Monday in Chicago with local and international union leadership and executives of the operating company.
The contract accepted today was the third proposal presented to the union members. Two earlier contracts were soundly rejected by the members, many of whom had fears of retribution by ATC.
But the new contract promises that ATC will not discipline striking drivers. The agreement also promises that drivers who crossed the picket lines will not be fined by the union.
The contract offers all drivers a flat $3.50 raise over four years, caps contributions to the health insurance program at 15 percent and provides three paid holidays -- all compromises between the union and company bargaining points.
The contract also offers a $200 bonus for drivers who return to work and begin health insurance coverage July 1.
Some of the drivers were bitter that they lost wages for more than a month for a contract they say still does not pay enough.
"I'm disappointed with what we have," said Domingo Gonzales, an 11-year driver with the local system. He said drivers wanted better wages than what they received.
Nonetheless, "I'll go back to work. It's hard to look for another job."
Dennis Peters, another senior driver, echoed the feelings of many of the drivers gathered around the small union office to hear the voting results early this morning.
"It was a lose-lose situation," Peters said. "A 'yes' vote was a loss. A 'no' vote was a real loss."
Peters and other drivers said the lack of support from the mechanics, who all crossed the picket lines, fellow drivers who crossed the lines, and replacement workers undermined the union's efforts.
"If it wasn't for the spineless scabs, we would have won," said Stan Homme, a five-year driver.
Ben Carter, a driver and member of the union local's executive board, said it will be tough for the striking drivers to go back to work with those that crossed the lines or came in to replace them.
"It's going to take a lot of healing," he said. "It's going to take a lot of time, if it ever comes.
"Friendships have been lost that may never be regained," Carter said.
He said those fractured relationships will not affect the operation of the bus system but will lead to a bitter environment for many of those who work for the system.
Michael said the company does not yet have a specific plan but is aware that bitter feelings remain among the drivers on both sides of the pickets.
"Anytime something like this occurs, there has to be a healing process," she said. "We are going to be taking steps to see that healing takes place.
"We want everybody to come back. We want to assist them in terms of getting back to the system and working with their coworkers. We are going to focus on that."
Those drivers who were hired as replacements will retain their jobs, Michael said. Some of the striking drivers have found other work in the last six weeks, and the company already had open positions before the strike, making room for more drivers, she said.
While ATC manages the daily operations of the bus system, the Regional Transportation Commission, a public agency, is responsible overall for the system policies.
The commission has urged a negotiated end to the strike for weeks, until now fruitlessly. The strike has complicated the commission's efforts to get support for a $2.7 billion tax initiative, which will be on the ballot this November as an advisory question.
RTC board members and the commission staff say they need the public support to get the tax initiative passed. But the drivers union and the local AFL-CIO, which represents 120,000 local workers, opposed the tax package while the strike continued.
Now, however, the union "will fully support it," Opdyke said.
RTC General Manager Jacob Snow said the strike resolution came at an important time. He is meeting today with Federal Highway Administrator Mary Peters in Washington, and wants to present a unified voice on the tax initiative.
With the $2.7 billion the initiative would bring, "we hope to obtain a lot of federal funds" for transit and road projects in the Las Vegas Valley, Snow said.
Michael said the operating company also welcomes the union's support for the tax initiative.
"It's a good initiative, it's a necessary initiative, and it will bring jobs not just for transit but to workers throughout the valley," Michael said.
Regular riders were not necessarily thinking of the tax package when they heard that the strike was over.
Mary Thomson, who uses the system to go to her job as a customer service representative for a pharmaceutical company, said she depends on the bus daily. While the morning commute has not been too bad, the evenings have been difficult, she said.
She is not convinced that the end of the strike will mean the bus system immediately returns to normal.
"That remains to be seen," Thomson said.
Vern Pearson, who travels from the south end of the city up to a truck stop in the north, said the strike has been an occasional problem for him.
"Hopefully, it will get back to normal," he said while waiting for his bus. "It's been hard to get to work."
archive
