SF MTA Muni sickout by TWU 250 A drivers causing delays across city

SF MTA Muni sickout by TWU 250 A drivers causing delays across city
http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Muni-sickout-causing-delays-a...
By Henry Lee and Evan Sernoffsky

June 2, 2014 | Updated: June 2, 2014 8:27am

Cable car service was suspended Monday morning due to a sickout by San Francisco MUNI workers.
(06-02) 08:04 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A sickout by Muni workers over a labor contract caused major service disruptions Monday morning, with cable cars canceled, express buses converted to locals and about two-thirds of coaches, trolleys and trains not making it onto the streets.

In a post on Twitter, officials with the transit agency warned riders to "expect major delays on Muni today. Working to balance service the best we can across the city. Apologies for this inconvenience."

Paul Rose, a Muni spokesman, told reporters that 400 of the 600 Muni vehicles that are normally on the streets were not in service. Some riders reported waiting more than an hour for a bus to show up.

All express and limited buses are stopping at every stop. There is no cable car service, but those lines are being supplemented by limited shuttle-bus service, the agency said.

BART is honoring Muni fare in San Francisco and Daly City, Muni officials said.

The sickout comes amid displeasure over a proposed labor agreement that was the subject of a vote Friday by Muni operators.

The outcome of the vote wasn't immediately known, but officials with Transport Workers Union Local 250-A had voiced concerns about the Municipal Transportation Agency's offer.

Under the proposal, the agency says, Muni workers would get 11.25 percent raises over two years, but they would pick up a 7.5 percent pension payment now paid by the MTA.

The contract would push operator pay to about $32 an hour July 1, making Muni drivers the second-highest-paid transit workers in the country, according to the MTA.

Muni workers, like all San Francisco city employees, are prohibited from striking. Under a law approved by voters in 2010, if the union rejects the contract, the two sides go before an arbitrator who cannot rule against Muni management's proposals unless the union proves its interests outweigh "the public interest in efficient and reliable transit."

Union officials have complained that the standard is too high. In a statement on the union's website last week, Local 250-A president Eric Williams called the arbitration procedure "a lopsided and unfair process. The membership must take a stand, which will be communicated through your vote."

Union officials said, however, that they were not recommending a "no" vote.

Commuters expressed frustrations over the disruption Monday.

"I've been here an hour, and I'm getting cold out here," Layla Mohammed, 49, said as she waited for a 14-Mission bus at Mission and Sixth streets. "I just want to go home."

Adriana Uribe, 49, who works at Caltrans as a testing technician, said she saw a sign that said the next 27-Bryant bus would arrive at Fifth and Mission streets in 67 minutes and "thought maybe the sign was broken. It's frustrating."

The sign may not have been broken, but Muni warned that service is so spotty, the NextBus time estimates are not reliable.

Uribe said she was taking BART in hopes of getting onto another bus.

"Hopefully the next bus will be on time," she said.

Henry K. Lee and Evan Sernoffsky are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. E-mail:hlee@sfchronicle.com and esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @henryklee,@EvanSernoffsky