Homeless in Arizona

I believe these losses are paid for with Federal money, which US taxpayers pay.

Now the bus drivers that operate these money losing buses are demanding raises. They want MORE MONEY from a business that loses money by the boatload????

Are the bus drives f*cking nuts!!!! Instead of getting a pay raise, they should be taking huge pay cuts.

Source

Phoenix-area bus drivers still planning strike

By Dianna M. Náñez The Republic | azcentral.com Sat Jun 29, 2013 1:39 AM

(Update at 1:45 a.m.) -- With a strike deadline looming Monday, union and First Transit negotiators continued talks with a federal mediator through the night and into the wee hours Saturday morning.

As the clock struck past midnight, the parties appeared to disagree over issues that included benefits, selection of job assignments, uniform allowances and maximum drive-time requirements.

Despite starting talks 8 a.m. Friday, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1433 and bus operator First Transit, had yet to reach an agreement as of 1:30 a.m. Saturday.

Michael Cornelius, a union representative, claimed First Transit refused to move on “substantive issues.”

Cornelius said that plans for a strike would remain for now.

He commended Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton for encouraging the parties to continue talks but questioned why Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell and Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, the heads of the cities whose residents may be most affected by a potential strike, remained silent.

“I am curious why Mayor Stanton is more concerned than the mayors of Tempe and Mesa,” he said. “ He wants updates, he keeps telling us all to keep at it and get it done. They have not even tried to contact us.”

Cornelius said First Transit officials assured Regional Public Transportation Authority board members that they would maintain driver wages and benefits. Yet, the company is not honoring that, as drivers are being asked to accept “drastic” increases in health-care contributions, he added.

Cornelius said he has e-mailed First Transit asking for a fair collective-bargaining agreement and questioned how they plan to proceed with only two days left before a potential strike.

(Originally published in The Arizona Republic)

Late Friday, after daylong labor negotiations, a federal mediator urged union and transit officials to continue talks through the night in an attempt to avert a bus-driver strike on Monday that could cripple southeast Valley commutes.

Michael Cornelius, a union representative, told The Arizona Republic on Friday afternoon that Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1433, which represents about 400 southeast Valley bus drivers, had agreed to continue talks, but he warned that there had been little improvement in negotiations.

“As of right now, there is no plan to call off Monday’s planned strike,” he said.

Drivers voted overwhelmingly last week to approve a strike.

On Thursday, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton joined Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell in underscoring the “devastating” effect a strike would have on tens of thousands of Valley residents who rely on public transportation.

Stanton, credited as a guiding force in pushing for an end to last year’s widespread bus-driver strike, spoke with First Transit and union negotiators Thursday. He called on them to put residents at the forefront of their bargaining.

“If they don’t reach an agreement today, I expect them to work over the weekend. That is what the expectation of this community is,” Stanton told The Republic on Friday. “They owe it to the people of this community to get the job done.”

“This is not just any service, this is people’s ability to get to their doctor, to their school. Hundreds of businesses will be affected because thousands of employees come to Phoenix to work from the southeast Valley utilizing the public transportation system.”

First Transit spokesman Maurice Harris declined to address specifics of the bargaining negotiations. Cornelius said disagreements include heavy-handed discipline measures and how drivers with seniority will be treated after the contract for Tempe bus services is combined with the Regional Public Transportation Authority contract.

Mitchell said Tempe and southeast Valley residents who rely on public transportation have few affordable alternatives to get to work.

A strike would involve 40 of Valley Metro’s 101 bus routes. Those combined routes average 57,000 weekday boardings. Light-rail service would not be affected.

The strike would cease all express-bus service from the southeast Valley into downtown Phoenix and Scottsdale, all circulator and local bus service in Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa and Tempe. An express route to downtown Phoenix and a local route, both serving Ahwatukee, also would halt.

Stanton stressed that just the handful of routes in Phoenix would leave at least 6,000 residents stranded. That number, he said, only scratches the surface given the tens of thousands more who travel to Phoenix and within southeast Valley cities.

By comparison, the Amalgamated strike against Veolia Transportation Services, which crippled the Valley bus system for six days in March, 2012, affected 50 of 101 Valley Metro routes. In Phoenix, Veolia operated routes with 90,000 boardings each weekday. In Tempe, weekday boardings for Veolia routes were about 24,000.

But the major difference this time is that there is no contingency plan that would provide reduced bus service during a strike. There would be total shutdown on the affected lines.

Steve Banta, Valley Metro RPTA CEO, confirmed there was no “minimum-service requirement” in the new First Transit contract, which takes effect Monday. Banta said officials on the procurement team, which he said he was not a part of, made the decision not to include the requirement to maintain minimum bus service.

Banta stressed that there are safety concerns during a work stoppage when drivers unfamiliar with routes are brought in and that even during last year’s strike, Veolia was unable to meet the minimum-service requirement.

The switch to First Transit came this year when Tempe, hoping to save money, offered its bus contract to the RPTA to negotiate a bid for unified services. The RPTA issued the contract to low bidder, First Transit, over Veolia Transportation Services. First Transit’s bid came in about $77.5 million below Veolia’s. The move combined Tempe services with the transit group’s services in other southeast Valley communities.

Cornelius, however, has said that First Transit would be unable to offer services at the cut-rate cost without drastically slashing driver contracts.

First Transit was awarded a three-year, $150.9 million contract with options for an extension. If the contract was renewed, the cost would be $407.8 million for years four through 10. Valley Metro officials have said that over a 10-year period, First Transit’s proposal for the unified-service approach was $36 million less than the combined costs to operate the bus services separately.

Valley Metro has posted a warning on its website and lists each route affected. Go to valleymetro.org to register for a carpool or arrange to telecommute.

RELATED INFO

By the numbers

40: Valley Metro bus routes affected.

101: Total Valley Metro bus routes.

57,000: Average weekday boardings on the 40 routes.

Latest information: valley metro.org and azcentral.com.