Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 11, 1991 TAG: 9104110508
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Company and union negotiators have scheduled another bargaining session next Wednesday. .
The bus system's 50 drivers and 20 mechanics, members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1493, have been working without a contract since April 1 when a three-year agreement expired.
Company and union officials agreed to extend the old contract on a day-by-day basis.
Stephen Mancuso, Valley Metro general manager, said Wednesday that union officials have told him that drivers and mechanics will stay on the job until next week's meeting.
But there is no assurance they'll keep on working without a new contract.
"We have decided to extend the contract through [Wednesday], and thereafter we'll decide what we will do," Mancuso said.
One Roanoke city official said a strike is possible, although both sides apparently hope to reach an agreement without any interruption in bus service. About 4,500 people ride the buses daily.
Fred Ingram, president of the union local, wouldn't comment on the likelihood of a strike. The union rejected the company's latest offer, but another vote would be required for a strike, he said.
"We will meet again with the company and see what happens," Ingram said.
Neither side would comment on the issues in the negotiations.
The city owns the bus system and subsidizes it with local tax money. City Council members serve as directors of the company, but it is a legal entity separate, and the drivers and mechanics are not city employees. As a result, they have the right to bargain collectively and strike, although state law prohibits local government employees from striking.
The last time bus drivers struck in Roanoke was in 1975, when there was a five-week walkout after the city acquired the bus system from a private company.
The main issues in that dispute were pay, pensions and other fringe benefits. A federal mediator was called in to help resolve the differences.
The drivers also threatened to strike in the early 1980s during negotiations on a new contract, but they agreed to keep working until an agreement was reached on a new contract.
by CNB