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The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority said Saturday it has asked Gov. Gavin Newsom to order striking transit employees back to work serving thousands of South Bay riders while it works out a new contract.
The VTA, whose buses and light rail trains have been idled since workers walked out Monday, also disclosed Saturday it filed for a Superior Court injunction on March 10 to “stop the irreparable harm to the community.”
The transit authority argues that Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265, representing more than 1,500 VTA workers, violated a “no strike” clause in its contract, even though the agreement expired at 11:59 p.m. Sunday.
Union President Raj Singh could not be reached for comment Saturday afternoon.
The two sides began negotiations in August 2024 to renew the union’s three-year contract.
The principal stumbling blocks are wages and a union proposal to settle conflicts by allowing workers to present their grievances to a neutral third party and avoid going to court.
The transit agency has offered wage increases of 4%, 3% and 2% over three years. The union is looking for 6% wage increases each year over the next three years.
The union represents bus and light rail operators, maintenance staff, dispatchers, fare inspectors and customer service representatives.
Why doesn’t the County redirect some of those absurd six-digit salaries paid to the County School administrators, Superintendents, and Assistant Superintendents toward giving the transit workers, who actually perform real work, the raise they need? Restructure those school administrative job salaries to a more reasonable 5 -digit level with performance incentives- like raising test scores and teaching Reading, writing, and ‘Rithmatic instead of all the Woke and DEI indoctrination.