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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – In an effort to avert a strike of local transit workers, a federal mediator has asked the employees union and the company that provides transit services for the Lake Transit Authority to come to the table for a meeting Wednesday.
Both sides have agreed to the meeting, set to take place beginning at 10 a.m. at the Best Western El Grande Inn in Clearlake.
Santa Rosa-based Teamsters Local 624, which has represented about 35 Lake Transit employees since 2007, had set an Aug. 26 deadline to come to an agreement with Paratransit Services – which holds the Lake Transit contract – or else take strike action, as Lake County News has reported.
But a federal mediator, who entered the negotiations earlier in the summer, asked the union if it would postpone a strike and again meet with Paratransit Services, and the union agreed, said union spokesman Ralph Miranda.
“Hopefully we're going to resolve this,” said Miranda.
Randy Grove, Paratransit's director of operations and human resources, said the two sides met on Aug. 12 and Paratransit made what they considered was a fair offer, which included a 1-percent wage increase across the board.
He said they offered a total three-year package representing a potential of between 10 and 18 percent in increased wages over three years. Paratransit Services also offered to pick up half of any increases in the cost of medical plan premiums, and made offers of work shift and vacation provisions.
The union rejected that offer a few days later, and Grove said Paratransit is still not certain why.
Grove said the union is asking for wage and benefit increases that would amount to more than $500,000 in costs to the community.
Sticking points appear to be related to health benefits and wages, with the sides offering conflicting details about what's being offered.
Miranda said previously that Paratransit Services had asked the employees to begin paying half of their insurance, which Grove disputed.
“We haven't asked anything like that,” he said, adding that Paratransit Services wants to continue the current practice of cost-sharing health insurance with employees. He said the company pays medical premiums that total $7,200 annually for each eligible employee.
Miranda also had said that the offered wage increase wasn't enough to cover the expected impacts of health care premium increases.
Paratransit Services currently offers a Blue Shield insurance plan that, according to an employee who contacted Lake County News, requires them to travel out of county for most of their medical care because of a dearth of local providers, which Miranda confirmed.
Grove, however, said the company offers a “premium comprehensive medical plan,” along with dental, vision, life insurance, and a retirement plan.
Miranda said the goal is to get the employees on a Teamsters health plan instead. However, Miranda said they're willing to back off of that request and keep the current plan if they can reopen wage and medical insurance changes at the ends of the second and third years of the proposed new contract.
The union wants to be able to negotiate any changes to the plan, which Paratransit Services can change at any time based on the current agreement. Miranda said that contract was negotiated with the company's predecessor, Laidlaw.
Grove said Paratransit Services currently starts its drivers at $9.88 per hour, compared to $12.24 in Mendocino County, where there is twice the funding available for transit services based on sales tax.
Despite having less dollars, Grove said, “We're actually very competitive.”
Union members had begun telling riders several weeks ago that a strike could occur, according to Miranda.
Should no agreement be reached and a strike result, “We do have plans to sustain bus services,” Grove said.
Services in that case would initially be more limited, he said.
Miranda stated previously that if the union's terms aren't met, a strike is inevitable.
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