The union representing Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority workers has postponed a vote, hoping for a better offer from the agency Sunday. Marianne Favro reports.
The union representing Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority workers has postponed a vote, hoping for a better offer from the agency Sunday.
The VTA board held special closed-session meeting on Sunday morning to discuss union negotiations. VTA held a conference at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
Members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265, the union representing more than 1,500 frontline workers, were supposed to vote on Saturday on whether to accept VTA's latest offer after more than two weeks on the picket line.
Union officials said both sides are getting closer to a compromise on one of its demands.
"One of the biggest fights for ATU was an arbitration clause, but we’ve been able to resolve that on both sides in a fair way, so we have a fair front-line arbitration process," said Armando Barbosa of ATU Local 265.
ATU began negotiating with the agency for a new contract last August. The union has said it wants a 6% raise for each of the next three years, while the VTA initially offered half of that.
VTA said it has continued to seek concrete resolutions to the conflict. The agency also filed a legal complaint against the union and asked Gov. Gavin Newsom, D, to intervene.
Once a new contract is presented, union members must vote on whether to accept it. And that could take some time because they have to cast a physical ballot in person.
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