OCTD, Bus Drivers Reach Accord After 6-Month Dispute

After a 30-hour bargaining session, tentative agreement was reached Thursday in the six-month contract dispute between the Orange County Transit District and the union representing its 732 bus drivers, a mediator said.

“Suffice it to say we worked our fannies off,” said Juliene Smith, chairwoman of Tustin-based United Transportation Union Local 19.

OCTD spokeswoman Joanne Curran said, “We’re happy there’s a contract.”

Details will not be released until April 6, after both sides have had a chance to ratify the agreement, said Bonnie P. Castrey, a former federal mediator who was called in last month to settle the bitter dispute, which led to an aborted December strike.

The union representing the drivers has scheduled an April 5 ratification vote, with the OCTD Board of Directors set to consider the new contract the next day. Contract talks began last August; the previous contract expired in October.

Asked if most drivers will favor ratification, Smith said Thursday: “I certainly hope so.”

The contract dispute led to an unsuccessful, two-week, pre-Christmas strike by bus drivers who sought a 16% pay hike over four years while the district offered 7.5% over 3 1/2 years. Drivers also opposed OCTD’s proposals for stricter attendance rules, drug testing and additional use of part-time personnel and private contractors to provide transportation services.

Drivers returned to work after the Transit District threatened to hire permanent replacements. The UTU later turned back a union representation challenge from a Long Beach-based Teamsters Union local.

Although the two sides had met with Castrey several times in recent weeks, the mediator said it was the 30-hour session that began at 9 a.m. Wednesday and ended at 3 p.m. Thursday that produced a settlement.