(Kristian Carreon/For The San Diego Union-Tribune)īus drivers in Kearny Mesa, organized by Teamsters Local 542, are also currently on strike and in labor negotiations with Transdev.

“If we get pushed to go on strike on the maintenance side, the drivers are going to honor our picket line.” “If certain issues are not addressed, we’re going to be back in the same situation,” Joel Bojorquez, a mechanic with the Teamsters, told the MTS board on Thursday. Service delays could get much worse for riders if the situation doesn’t improve.īus mechanics in the South Bay, who have walked off the job in support of drivers, are now gearing up for their own labor negotiations at the end of the year. “But this is what has to be done to have a change. We really miss them,” said Fausto Surposa, who has driven a bus in the South Bay for 24 years. The transit agency directly employs 467 of the its roughly 1,160 drivers. In response to the idea that its contract could be canceled, Transdev recently told the Union-Tribune: “We have been long-term partners in good standing with MTS, and believe we will be so into the foreseeable future.”īus drivers, mechanics and other union workers packed the MTS boardroom on Thursday, pleading with the agency to cancel its contract with Transdev and bring them in-house. Since last year, the company lost roughly 300 employees at its Chula Vista location, according to records provided by the Teamsters union.

“We have seen the high cost of living in San Diego.” “We recognize the growing challenge to hire and retain bus operators,” Whitburn said.

The cash incentive would come on top of a $21 million bump to Transdev’s contract that MTS officials approved in January to give bus drivers a $2-an-hour wage increase.

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