Union employees to vote on new VTA contract proposal months after transit strike

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- A new transit worker contract, months in the making, may soon be agreed upon in Santa Clara County.

Union members of ATU Local 265 will vote until 10 p.m. Tuesday night on a new deal with the Valley Transportation Authority - about three months after a strike halted public transportation.

Many riders never realized how much they took transit for granted until the strike and they love to hear them up and running once again.

"It's great," Daniel Macias said. "I don't drive because of my knee situation, medical. But, if I didn't have the transit, I wouldn't be able to get around as much."

"I use the VTAs every day," Qidai Chen said. "It's a part of my life."

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That's why the Valley Transportation Authority and ATU Local 265 union workers want to ensure transit is up and running from here on out.

In March, a county judge had ended a historic, multi-week strike - demanding the employees back to work.

Now almost three months of negotiations later, VTA spokesperson Stacey Hendler Ross says a new proposal is on the table.

"VTA has made a significantly different proposal this time with a cumulative increase in wages of 14.5% over four years," Hendler Ross said. "So that's 4%, 3.5%, 3% and 4%."

The extra year is new for ATU and matches other VTA union employee deals.

The proposal also allows for enhanced dental care benefits, an apparel voucher for uniforms and improved workplace policies.

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The decision of whether or not to ratify the deal is now in the hands of the union employees.

"It's not going to be a strong union influence like, 'you need to make this decision'," ATU Local 265 executive board officer Armando Barbosa said. "This decision today has been expressed for each member to take to heart what's in front of them, chew on what's in front of them and to apply it to themselves."

A sticking point throughout the negotiations was rules over arbitration.

The contract allows for an arbitrator to decide which grievances go to arbitration and not the union or company.

Both sides agreed on that part of the deal back in March.

If the contract is voted on and approved by both sides, it will go into effect on June 9.