Santa Cruz bus drivers negotiating for higher pay, medical benefits

As Santa Cruz METRO and bus drivers negotiate contracts, bus drivers are calling for increased wages and they don’t want to have to pay more for medical benefits. But even after getting out of negiations Monday, they told KION there’s not much movement toward a final contract.

“We feel like they keep attacking what we have,” said James Sandoval who has been a METRO bus driver for more than 10 years. He is also the general chairperson for the SMART Local 23 union who is negotiating the contracts with METRO.

Sandoval said one of the main issues is compensation. Bus drivers currently make a starting wage of about $15 an hour and top out near $30, but Sandoval said they should be making 8 percent more to cover cost of living.

“The cost of living has gone up dramatically and we froze our wages for four years and we’ve been trying to survive within those four years,” Sandoval said.

The union also doesn’t want members to have to pay more employee contributions for medical.

They are also opposed to overtime restrictions. They said overtime is a necessity to cover service.

At the end of June, union members made a statement and stopped accepting overtime–a move that dropped nearly 60 trips, according to METRO spokesperson Jayme Ackemann.

She told KION that METRO doesn’t want to negotiate in the media. But in a statement she said, “we’re at the negotiating table and we’re continuing to work with the union to reach a final contract.”

She also said that METRO has not proposed taking overtime off the table.

The union does not have a strike planned at this time, but may consider future action if METRO doesn’t budge.

The union and METRO will meet later this week to continue discussions.