2 Sides Hold More Talks, but No Progress Reported

The two sides in Orange County’s weeklong bus strike held more discussions Saturday morning through a state mediator at an undisclosed hotel, but no progress was reported and no additional sessions have been scheduled.

Last Sunday, members of United Transportation Union Local 19 rejected the Orange County Transit District’s “last and final” contract terms and voted to strike the county system, which normally serves more than 110,000 riders daily. The union and the OCTD could not agree on wages, cost-of-living increases, drug testing and increased use of part-time drivers.

Between 80 and 100 of the UTA’s 730 drivers appeared on picket lines Monday morning, but Superior Court Judge William F. Rylaarsdam issued a temporary restraining order Wednesday limiting to four the number of pickets permitted at any one entrance to OCTD facilities.

By Friday, the OCTD said buses were running on 13 of the district’s 53 routes, utilizing management personnel and driver trainees. No routes were put in operation today to give the substitute drivers a rest.

The two sides met Friday at a hotel in Orange County, with Douglas Thompson of the Los Angeles office of the State Mediation and Conciliation Service shuttling between rooms where negotiators for each side gathered.

Saturday morning, the OCTD gave the mediator a draft contract embodying the district’s last offer, presented on Dec. 4.

Joanne Curran, an OCTD spokeswoman, said “the mediator wasn’t able to solve anything” Saturday. “It does still seem that we are far apart,” she said.

Juliene Smith, general chairman of the union, said negotiators “saw no reason at this juncture to sit down and discuss what has already been rejected,” and that the union was “not willing to be dictated to.”

Neither side has requested any additional sessions with the mediator.