Voting members of Teamsters Local 186 unanimously rejected the most recent contract offer made by MTD for all three of the bargaining units — drivers, supervisors, and maintenance. Union spokesperson Jed Johnson said, “We have until July 31 to get this sucker done.” That’s the date that all 160 employees would be going out on strike if there is no contract agreement. Johnson complained that MTD’s negotiating team has not been negotiating in good faith. He cited that employees are required to produce a doctor’s excuse for every day taken off for illness. Since 75 percent of the company’s workforce has to commute from outside of Santa Barbara, he said, producing a doctor’s note the first day imposes a hardship. The union had proposed a five-day wait. Other objections included that workers are not paid time-and-a-half on holidays, that they must pay too much for health insurance, and that the percentage of wage increase proposed by the bus company was not enough.
MTD spokesperson Hillary Blackerby said, “Our only comment at this point is that we’re committed to getting a fair deal before the end of the month. Nothing more to say at this point.” In a previous conversation, Blackerby said MTD is facing a $4.6 million projected shortfall in 2028. Part of that will be ameliorated by a fare increase that goes into effect the third week of August, the first in 16 years. Should push come to shove and a strike ensue, 15,000 daily riders will find themselves forced to find other ways to get from Point A to B. Of those, about one-third are UCSB, City College, or K-12 students. Johnson was not persuaded by such recitations of hardship. The company still has ample enough reserves, he stated, to invest more in its work force.
