The State - News from Jan. 8, 1987

Even though negotiators reached tentative agreement on a new contract for Golden Gate Transit bus drivers minutes before the Tuesday midnight deadline, 27 of the drivers who work for the commuter line that serves Marin, Sonoma and San Francisco counties failed to show up for work. A spokesperson for the bus line in San Rafael said some drivers had gone to bed before the agreement was reached, and thus were unaware of it, while some who had served on the negotiating team simply were too tired. Details of the new agreement were withheld pending formal presentation to the 324 driver-members of the Amalgamated Transit Workers union local, which had been seeking an 11% increase in the drivers’ $11.05-per-hour pay. A management spokesman said the new contract would make Golden Gate drivers among the best paid in California.