Striking bus drivers may not be rehired

Friday, May 24, 2002 | 10:57 a.m.

The company operating the local bus service said Thursday that it would not hire back striking bus drivers who broke state picketing laws, potentially barring hundreds of the strikers from returning to work.

ATC spokeswoman Val Michael said the company welcomes striking drivers back to work -- but only "as long as they haven't done anything illegal."

Hundreds of strikers have carried picket signs in front of buses, technically breaking a Nevada statute that outlaws an attempt "to delay, impede or interfere with the ability of persons or vehicles to enter or leave" a property.

Striking bus drivers have slowed the exits of Citizens Area Transit buses from yards controlled by ATC, the company under contract with the Regional Transportation Commission to service 51 routes, about 300 buses and, at least before the strike, 150,000 daily riders.

Both company management and union members have filmed the pickets and replacement drivers. Michael said the filming, which includes the use of disposable cameras, could be used as evidence that a picket had broken the state law.

An attorney for the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1637 said the company threat would not stand.

"They can take that position," Dennis Kist said. But to actually bar somebody from the job, "it has to rise to a higher level than that. You have to engage in what they call picket line misconduct, which usually involves violence of some sort."

Kist said the Nevada statute, enacted after a contentious 1984 Culinary Union strike, could be overturned by federal labor law.

"In my opinion it's not a constitutional law in most respects anyway," Kist said, because it limits free speech and the right of assembly.

Kist said the ability of striking workers to get their jobs back could well depend on which side ultimately wins the labor battle. If the issue ends in a draw or the union wins significant concessions from the company, the strikers are usually offered amnesty.

He said companies that win strikes have aggressively replaced striking union members with permanent substitutes when they can.

The RTC has not been directly involved in the strike or in the contract negotiations that started eight months ago, and would not become involved if the company bars any driver returning to work, RTC spokeswoman Heather Curry said.

"That's an ATC hiring and firing issue," she said.

About 700 union drivers walked out early Monday morning, and many of the drivers are picketing in front of two park-and-repair yards and two busy turnaround points for the buses -- the Downtown Transportation Center and Gilespie Street near the south end of the Strip.

Michael with ATC said the company has started advertising for replacement drivers, although some replacements have come in from other ATC operations out of state. Supervisors and bus-driver trainers also are driving buses.

The walkout Monday morning sent ATC and the RTC scrambling to fill routes. Curry said that as of Thursday, about 70 percent of its routes are covered, although many routes are running late.

The RTC reported that one dozen routes were not receiving any service on Thursday, an improvement of one route over the day before. As it has all week, the agency asks would-be bus riders to call 228-7433 or check the Internet at www.rtc.co.clark.nv.us/cat.htm for updates.

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