Teamsters Agree to Back Transit Strike

LOS ANGELES-The county’s 800,000-member Federation of Labor has thrown its support behind a transit strike proposed for this Friday that threatens to strand nearly a half-million people who ride LA’s buses and rail lines every day.

The Downtown office market would likely suffer most from a strike because so many of its workers use public transit instead of driving their cars into the traffic-clogged central business district. Retail projects and business owners that depend on those workers would feel the impact too.

Yesterday’s decision by the AFL-CIO to support the proposed means that the Teamsters and other unions would honor the picket lines of bus and rail workers if a walkout is called.

LA’s Metropolitan Transit Authority operates most of the county’s bus and rail lines. Its contract with unions that represent about 6,800 drivers, mechanics and clerks expired last week.

MTA officials are asking the union to accept a four-day workweek to reduce overtime pay. They also want changes in work rules that sometimes require highly paid mechanics to perform work that can be done by lower-paid employees.

An even bigger issue may be the MTA’s plan to contract out more work to other transit companies in an effort to save money and improve service. Most union officials are opposed to the plan, fearing that it would hurt their negotiating clout and encourage the hiring of non-union workers.