COUNTYWIDE : New Contract Gives Bus Drivers Raise

The Orange County Transit District’s 856 bus drivers will receive an 11% pay hike over three years under a new contract with Teamsters International Local 911, district officials said.

The drivers, who have been working without a contract for a year, ratified the terms of the new agreement by a vote of 245 to 150 at a union meeting Sunday night, officials said. District board members approved the same pact during closed session Monday morning, OCTD spokeswoman Joanne Curran said.

Under the agreement, which is retroactive to May 1, 1990, bus drivers will receive annual pay increases of 3% for 1990-91, 4% for 1991-92 and 4% for 1992-93.

Before Monday’s contract announcement, top pay for OCTD bus drivers was $14.01 per hour. By May 1, 1993, the top rate will be $15.60, or $32,448 a year. About 80% of OCTD’s bus drivers earn the top pay rate.

In contrast, bus drivers currently receive $14.42 an hour in San Diego, $15.81 an hour in Oakland, $16.43 in Sacramento, $16.44 in Los Angeles, $17.17 in San Francisco and $17.58 in Santa Clara County.

OCTD bus drivers had been working without a contract because of a hiatus during the United Transportation Union’s legal challenge to an election, in which the drivers replaced UTU with the Teamsters as their bargaining agent.