- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Lake Transit updates service restoration plans; union members not yet back to work
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake Transit Authority reported Monday that transit services that were curtailed due to a strike are being restored at an accelerated pace, but workers who chose to return to the job still haven't been called back at work.
Last week Teamsters Local 665 said the 28 striking Lake Transit workers it represents had voted to return to work to help bring services back online.
The strike began on July 29, with the union citing a breakdown in negotiations with Paratransit Services – Lake Transit's operator – over wage step increases.
Paratransit Services moved forward with hiring permanent replacement workers and last week Lake Transit began the first phase of a plan to restore services that had been rolled back after the strike began.
Lake Transit Authority General Manager Mark Wall said Monday that about 60 percent of Lake Transit weekday schedules were in operation.
By this Thursday, Wall said all routes would be in operation and 88 percent of weekday schedules will be operating, including the following:
- Route 1: North Shore, Clearlake to Lakeport via Highway 20, all schedules operating.
- Route 2: Middletown to Kit's Corner via Cobb Mountain, all schedules operating.
- Route 3: Clearlake to Middletown, Calistoga, St. Helena, nine of 11 schedules.
- Route 4: South Shore, Clearlake to Lakeport via Highway 29, 13 of 16 schedules.
- Route 4A: Kit's Corner to Lakeport, all schedules operating.
- Route 5: City of Clearlake-Clearlake Park, operates 7 a.m.-5 p.m., 10 of 14 schedules.
- Route 6: City of Clearlake-Lower Lake, operates 7 a.m.-5 p.m., 10 of 11 schedules.
- Route 7: Lakeport to Ukiah, six of eight schedules including connections to Greyhound and Amtrak.
- Route 8: City of Lakeport, all schedules operating.
Wall said services will be fully restored by Sept. 3.
Just who will be driving the buses is still being determined, according to the union and Paratransit Services, Lake Transit's operator.
As to putting back to work the union members who voted to return to the job, Christie Scheffer, chief operating officer and executive vice president of Paratransit Services, said Monday that the process of recalling staff is under way.
“We are still working to insure the recall list takes into account all employment categories and circumstances,” she said in an email message. “Both Paratransit Services and the union's attorney are in communication on these matters. Once a decision is reached, those employees who are recalled will report for work as agreed.”
Ralph Miranda, president of Teamsters Local 665, said Paratransit Services told the union that they've replaced everyone but that they have one full-time driver position and one part-time dispatcher position, with the possibility that another driver spot may also be available.
He believes that Paratransit Services is trying to qualify all of its new drivers so that they don't have responsibility to their union employees.
The union has maintained that the new drivers cannot be qualified in such a short period of time to replace the more experienced workers and that they have had safety issues, including jumping curbs and not taking proper turns.
He said the union and Paratransit Services are meeting at 2 p.m. Tuesday, at which time they will make arrangements for recalling some of the workers who had been on strike and the details about what jobs are available also will be finalized.
“The parties have agreed that they'll be called back by seniority,” Miranda said of the Teamsters members who had been on the picket line.
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