EDITORIALS:Bus strike should have been avoided

It’s about time.

After a week-long strike, it looks like the Orange County Transportation Authority and Teamsters Union have reached an agreement that will get buses running again — perhaps as early as Monday — in Orange County.

Under the tentative agreement, announced Saturday, drivers with five or more years of experience would receive a total 11.25% wage increase over three years, with a 10.5% increase for newer employees. Health and welfare benefits would also increase over that time.

The union is expected to vote on the agreement this weekend, and the authority’s board of directors has called a special meeting Monday in hopes of ratifying the package.

“Nobody wanted this strike,” said Carolyn Cavecche, chairwoman of the authority. “We feel very badly for our riders and for the fact that our operators and their families lost so many dollars over the last week.”

Thousands of bus drivers and riders around the county have suffered through the ordeal. It’s impossible at this point to estimate the amount of lost wages, or jobs, even.

But one thing’s for sure: It didn’t have to happen.

The sticking point in negotiations centered on the disbursement of the wage increase. The union wanted drivers with five or more years of experience to get a bigger increase than drivers with fewer than five years’ experience. The authority proposed an equal amount in raises for all drivers.

Not forward thinking, in our view.

Bus drivers aren’t exactly getting rich; many can’t afford to live, let alone buy a home, in Orange County.

Why wouldn’t you reward them for their loyalty?

Why wouldn’t you give less experienced drivers something to look forward to down the road?

Why wouldn’t you want experienced drivers to stay with your organization?

Why wouldn’t you invest toward the goal of retaining, via incentives, career drivers and reducing turnover?

Keep in mind, the tentative agreement means a less than 4% annual raise for all drivers.

The authority dropped the ball on this one.

We’re glad that a deal is on the table, and we hope that buses are running on Monday. Thousands depend on that happening. Our economy suffers when it doesn’t.

But a public transportation strike? Stranded commuters?

It didn’t have to come to this.