Bus Driver Standoff Going Nowhere

It was your regular "he said, she said" argument in the Statesman, but it wasn't splashed across Dear Abby, or the au courant columns of "Tell Me About It." No, it was Friday's infinitely more entertaining op-ed page, where Capital Metro President/CEO Fred Gilliam and Amalgamated Transit Union 1091 President Jay Wyatt took turns airing each other out over the union's one-day strike on Sept. 22.

Wyatt described Cap Metro's insistence on a separate, lower-wage scale for new hires as the strike's reason, an "unreasonable demand … that would condemn new employees to wage rates equal to those of five years ago." The union fears the two-tier system gives management an incentive to dump longtime employees, picking up new workers for 16% less. "We don't believe the Austin community supports turning decent-paying jobs into low-wage jobs," Wyatt wrote. "And we are prepared to walk off the job over this fundamental issue."

Cap Metro's Gilliam said, "This wage scale is fair and respectable for the Austin market, and all … employees – both new and current – will see annual wage increases for the three years of the proposed contract." Cap Metro's proposal promised a 3% wage increase over those years. That Friday was also the deadline for the union to sign Capital Metro's agreement and be guaranteed a retroactive raise from the last two months.

At any rate, Wyatt told The Daily Texan that Cap Metro can "take whatever they want off the table." Gilliam goaded workers with the threat of termination if there are continued strikes, an action that would likely lead to litigation. "We believe strongly that the union does not have a compelling case to back up such drastic action," said Gilliam of the threat of more strikes.

The first legal volley was fired Sept. 26, as the union filed a lawsuit against Capital Metro, Gilliam, and StarTran, alleging the transportation authority has been illegally running negotiations. StarTran was willed into existence by Cap Metro to resolve conflicting state and federal labor laws; state-funded groups like Cap Metro are prohibited from bargaining with their employees; however, federal labor laws require bargaining rights – hence StarTran's contracting with most Cap Metro employees. Wyatt claims Capital Metro is controlling bargaining through Jeff Londa, StarTran's attorney, who also works for Cap Metro. Cap Metro claims that StarTran hired Londa independent of their wishes. As of press time, there was no set court date.

A new date for negotiations was set this week, Thursday, Oct. 13. While a cooling-off period was to be expected following the ATU strike, if bargaining is unsuccessful, the 800-plus men and women of the union will continue without a contract, with the possibility of another strike hovering over the city.