OCTD Drivers Vote Against Teamsters’ Takeover Attempt

By a 2-1 margin, Orange County Transit District bus drivers voted Friday to reject a Teamsters takeover bid and keep the United Transportation Union as their representative in labor negotiations.

The vote capped two months of unrest after December’s ill-fated, two-week strike by drivers against OCTD over wages and policies affecting absenteeism, job security and employee drug testing.

After daylong balloting by 685 of the transit agency’s 730 drivers, state mediation service officials who counted the ballots at OCTD headquarters in Garden Grove on Friday evening declared that Tustin-based UTU Local 19 had defeated the Teamsters Local 911 of Long Beach by a vote of 412 to 273.

There were tears and hugs among many of the 75 activists from both unions who gathered at the OCTD administration building to watch the vote tallying, according to transit district spokeswoman Joanne Curran.

UTU Chairperson Juliene Smith was celebrating with rank-and-file drivers at a Garden Grove steak house Friday night and could not be immediately reached for comment.

Earlier in the day, she had said that if the Teamsters won the election it would mean the end of Local 19.

Teamsters Union officials declined comment.

It was the Teamsters’ second defeat in three years in attempts to unseat the UTU.

Earlier Friday, before the election results were announced, Smith had confidently predicted victory and vowed to continue battling OCTD in court.

“We’ll get 75% to 80% of the vote,” Smith had said. “Even if we win, the lawsuit won’t be moot because OCTD is still not honoring provisions of the old contract, and as far as we’re concerned, they (OCTD officials) still owe us.”

The UTU has sued the district for failing to collect and pass on to the union dues previously subtracted from drivers’ paychecks, crippling the union financially. No court date has been set in the case.

During the campaigning that led up to Friday’s vote, UTU officials claimed that the district was illegally aiding the Teamsters bid and had won a court order allowing more UTU members to take unpaid leaves of absence for campaign purposes over the district’s strong objections.

Conciliatory Tone

But Friday night OCTD’s Curran was conciliatory.

“We are happy the election is over,” Curran said. “We want to get a contract signed. . . . We want to put this period of unrest behind us.”

Curran said contract negotiations, which broke down before the Teamsters mounted their challenge, probably would resume once the state Mediation and Conciliation Service certifies the election results. She said certification is expected in about five days.

OCTD drivers ended their walkout without a contract last December after OCTD officials began advertising for permanent replacements and set a return-to-work deadline.