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Aug 3, 2008 10:55 pm US/Central
Another Crucial Vote For Transit Employees, Riders
(WCCO)
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On Sunday, Metro Transit employees began voting on the new offer. If this contract is voted down, the future becomes less clear. (File)
Metro Transit
For the second time in less than a month, 2,200 Metro Transit employees are voting on their future.
On July 14, bus drivers and mechanics voted down a contract offer from the Met Council. The offer was for wage increases of 1 percent over the next two years, and 2 percent in 2010. On Sunday, they began voting on a new offer that would give employees a 2.25 percent raise beginning Sept. 1, and a 2 percent increase next year.
Last month, 95 percent of employees voted down the initial contract offer from the Met Council. As a result, they began working without a contract July 31.
"There are a lot of different groups that we represent so you have to try and get the best for all the groups. So it's stressful, but we find a way to get through it," said Local Union 1005 President Michelle Sommers.
On Sunday, Metro Transit employees began voting on the new offer. If this contract is voted down, the future becomes less clear.
In 2004, a strike idled Metro Transit buses for 44 days. Sommers said the word "strike" is not even being uttered right now. But if it did come to that, Metro Transit employees would not be the only ones losing out.
"I couldn't go to church. I couldn't go get my groceries on the week day. It was horrible," recalled rider Cheryl Brama.
Brama remembers the 2004 bus strike and would rather not go through another one. She has a medical condition that does not allow her to drive, so she relies on the bus to get her to and from work. Brama said her livelihood depends on it.
"It's a necessity for my autonomy to have that available," she said.
The Met Council is calling this their best and final offer to Metro Transit employees. An 18-member union executive board has recommended that the employees accept this contract. Voting will resume Monday morning and the polls will close at 5:00 p.m.
There is talk that if a strike were to happen it could take place around Minnesota State Fair time and could carry over into the Republican National Convention.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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