Heh... Heh... Heh...
Santa Cruz Sentinel (The Senile) October 4, 2005
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/October/04/local/images/04drotkn.jpg UCSC students and striking Metro drivers crowd press into lecturer Mike Rotkin’s office on campus Monday. (Dan Coyro / Sentinel) --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Metro bus strike: Angry students confront Santa Cruz mayor By GENEVIEVE BOOKWALTER SENTINEL STAFF WRITER
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/October/04/local/stories/01local.htm
SANTA CRUZ — In an office packed with students and striking bus drivers Monday, another Metropolitan Transit District director questioned the closed-door decision to reject a tentative agreement between the agency and unionized bus drivers, leading drivers to walk off the job and strand about 23,000 riders.
"My position is, they should have signed that agreement," said Mike Rotkin, Santa Cruz mayor and a transit director, from his lecturer’s office at UC Santa Cruz.
"I think the board made a mistake."
His comments echoed those of Mark Stone, a county supervisor and transit board member who last week also said directors erred by not approving the contract.
No other board members have spoken out against the decision not to accept a state-mediated tentative agreement Sept. 23.
Rotkin would not say how he voted, but her presented the 11-member board’s majority opinion against the tentative .
That decision prompted the strike, now in its eighth day. No new negotiations are scheduled.
Monday’s event, organized by UCSC’s Student and Worker Coalition for Justice, rallied about 50 UCSC students and a handful of bus drivers at Porter College. The group walked to Rotkin’s office at College Eight; some asked for a ride home.
Rotkin replied that he didn’t have a car on campus.
Protesters peppered him with questions for more than an hour, many wondering what he would do to resolve the labor mess.
"I want to know if the workers can count on you," said one student.
Asked another: "I really depend on my education and if I fail out, who am I going to blame?"
Bus drivers chimed in, too.
"We had an agreement not to strike if you would not lock us out," said driver Jim Taylor. "We weren’t the ones who broke that contract."
About 145 drivers with United Transportation Union Local 23 walked off the job shortly after midnight last Tuesday, after the agency’s board of directors refused to approve the tentative agreement between drivers and the district.
Normally, 37 routes run from the North Coast down to Watsonville, up the San Lorenzo Valley and over to San Jose. UCSC students and Watsonville residents are the district’s largest ridership groups.
District officials said they will not hire replacement drivers, so the two sides must reach agreement before buses hit the road again.
ParaCruz, the district’s service for disabled riders who can’t use fixed-route buses, is operating.
Drivers, who start out making about $34,000 annually, earn more than $50,000 after six years. Many argue those wages mean little given the costs of medical insurance.
Board members said they could cut health-care premiums if drivers gave up some perks, like general leave, which involves a month off without pay but with benefits.
The two sides couldn’t agree, so last month directors imposed a one-year contract on drivers. Drivers in return scheduled a strike for Sept. 1, later postponed to Sept. 8. At 1:30 a.m. that morning, negotiating teams reached a tentative agreement and temporarily avoided the strike.
But at the Sept. 23 board meeting, directors refused to approve the deal. Drivers had proposed trading money marked for extended health-care costs to pay for general leave. As a result, should contract negotiations next year extend past the June 30, 2006, expiration date, medical premiums would more than double.
Board members said they couldn’t approve that, fearful the increase would hit drivers too hard next summer and union members would blame the hike on the board.
Thursday night, drivers gave directors a new proposal for a three-year contract. Board members responded that they would negotiate if drivers went back to their jobs. Drivers refused.
Monday, Rotkin defended his majority speech against the tentative pact.
"The board needs to act in a coherent way," Rotkin said, noting he still has problems with some perks sought by the bus drivers.
After the demonstration, student organizer Matthew Edwards, 20, said the session went exactly as he thought it would.
But he wasn’t happy with Rotkin simply admitting a mistake.
"I think he could do more," Edwards said. "He’s our elected official."
Contact Genevieve Bookwalter at gbookwalter at santacruzsentinel.com.
You can find this story online at: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/October/04/local/stories/01local.htm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leigh www.leighm.net
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