REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK:Behind the picket lines

Editor’s Note:Daily Pilot reporter Jessie Brunner discussed the ongoing strike with Orange County Transportation Authority bus drivers on Tuesday.

Ruben Bello’s 8-year-old daughter asked him Tuesday why “Daddy” was going to work wearing a Beatles “Let It Be” T-shirt and an umbrella hat rather than his work uniform.

Such are the mornings of a bus driver on strike.

“My kids know something is going on, and for a father, it’s very hard because you don’t want to put your family in these desperate situations,” he said.

“It is difficult not to be working when you have a family, you have a mortgage, you have bills.”

Bello was one of about 40 Orange County Transportation Authority drivers picketing outside both entrances to the authority’s Santa Ana Maintenance and Operations Base on Tuesday.

“All I am hoping for is a fair contract, not only for senior drivers but for everyone because we are all doing the same thing,” said the 11-year employee.

“The money we’re making compared to the cost of living in Orange County is just not enough to have a decent life.”

Several teamsters said that their wages are lower than those of drivers in other areas, citing that drivers for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in Los Angeles make $25 an hour compared to their $21.42 hourly earnings for veteran drivers.

Though Tuesday was her scheduled day off, strike captain Connie McLinden, accompanied by her three sons, carried her pro-union sign and sounded an air horn as passersby honked in support.

“When my paycheck comes in and these days are not on there, it’s going to hurt, but in the long run, it will be worth it,” she said. “I’m prepared to be out here for as long as it takes, though I expect it to end soon.”

She has spent 10 hours a day at the picket line since strikes started Saturday, demonstrating her support of the union’s demand that wage increases go to veteran employees, as opposed to distributing them equally among all employees.

Two portable toilets and a communal snack table have been set up at the site.

“As a new driver, I want the money on the top end to be higher so I have a goal to look forward to,” McLinden said, adding that drivers receive a raise every six months for the first five years of employment.

McLinden’s 12-year-old son Samuel bobbed his own sign, tailing his mother as they paced along the base’s entrance countless times. He also sent a letter to Art Leahy, chief executive officer of the authority, satisfying a school assignment to write a formal letter of complaint.

“I think it’s important to my mom, so it’s important to me, too,” Samuel said.

“If she has to strike, I want to be with her,” 8-year-old Rafael added.

Recognizing the difficulties the strikes are causing for regular bus riders, veteran driver George Salcedo said he hoped the issue would be settled immediately, adding that one of his regular customers called him Tuesday morning to show his support.

“I get to know my people, and they are all 100% behind the drivers,” he said. “But I feel for them. They are the ones that are hurting.”