Topline:
About 200 bus drivers, customer service reps and dispatchers in Santa Clarita are on strike today.
Why now: They are demanding higher wages and a better contract. Contract negotiations had been underway for more than a year.
What does it mean for commuters: The strike has suspended all Santa Clarita Transit commuter services and most local routes, including the school tripper service for students in the Hart Union School District.
About 200 bus drivers, customer service reps and dispatchers in Santa Clarita are on strike today. They are demanding higher wages and a better contract. The strike has suspended all Santa Clarita Transit commuter services and most local routes, including the school tripper service for students in the Hart Union School District.
Workers have been in negotiations for over a year now with Santa Clarita contractor MV Transportation. But on Sept. 15, the union voted to authorize a strike that would start as early as the first week of October. On Sept. 28, MV Transportation was notified of the union's decision to strike. Today marks the first day.
Lourdes Garcia, president of the Teamsters Local 572 — the union that represents the bus drivers and other transit service employees — says the strike will go until a fair contract is reached.
"They don't have a choice," Garcia said. "They are fighting for a fair pay raise. And with the drivers, we've been negotiating for over a year. That tells you how much we have tried to reach a contract. So, we haven't taken this decision lightly."
Most Tripper service, except for:
One of the union arguments is the lack of fair compensation to the transit service workers, especially those who worked through the pandemic. Some were even the first to lose their lives to COVID-19.
“We are sick and tired of being treated like our hard work doesn’t matter to Santa Clarita city leaders,” said Linda Rompal, a 19-year bus driver with MV Transit and member of Teamsters Local 572 in a statement. “We did not want to strike, but our employer refuses to pay us fairly and their client — the City of Santa Clarita — refuses to provide MV Transit the resources needed to pay us a fair wage, so we have no choice.”
The city of Santa Clarita said in a statement that they are not part of negotiations. We've reached out to MV Transportation for comment and have yet to hear back.
For more information, you can visit Santa Clarita's transit website here. And here is the alternate schedule for schools that rely on Santa Clarita Transit.