Bus service across Lane County was paralyzed Sunday night when Amalgamated Transit Union Division 757 voted against Lane Transit District’s latest contract offer 188-9 by secret ballot and declared a strike effective 12:01 a.m. today.
“This is a sad day for Lane County,” ATU Division 757 Vice President Jonathan Hunt said. “We are out on strike and we will stay out on strike until we can get a fair contract.”
A county-wide bus driver strike has been a looming possibility for almost two months, and University officials have secured options for additional parking and alternative transportation.
The Autzen Stadium parking lot will be open free of charge from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday for the duration of the strike, and parking spots will be
available around campus for car-poolers only. Permits can be obtained for free from the Department of Public Safety.
Carpool information is available on the LTD Web site and at rideshare.us.
A Laidlaw bus shuttle open to PeaceHealth employees and University students, faculty and staff will be leaving the Lane County Fairgrounds at 796 W. 13th Ave. and will be arriving at Sacred Heart Medical Center, 1255 Hilyard St., every 10 to 20 minutes from 5:20 a.m. until 11:30 p.m.
The Assault Prevention Shuttle will be operating at its usual hours of 6 p.m. until midnight, Sunday through Thursday, and 6 p.m. until 2 a.m., Friday and Saturday.
ASUO Community and Housing Coordinator Scott Lu said Thursday the ASUO is looking for volunteers to help provide security for the Autzen Stadium parking lot and the walkway to campus, but the ASUO will not intervene in the dispute because of the politics behind it.
The union was to hold its first strike rally at 5:30 a.m. today at the Fairgrounds to greet the Laidlaw bus shuttle and kick off a strike that union representatives say will include picket lines at all major LTD stations, including the University’s.
“We ask our riders and other unions to join us on the strike line in hopes that this will end as soon as possible,” Hunt said.
The union was hours away from
a Feb. 1 strike but accepted a community committee’s offer to enter a
35-day cooling off period and allow an outside auditor to look at the
negotiations and make recommendations to both sides.
LTD declined the committee’s offer and implemented a portion of its final contract offer Feb. 1, causing the union to declare a strike effective at the end of the 35-day cooling off period, which is today.
ATU and LTD have been at odds for more than 10 months over their 2005-07 contract, which has gone though several facelifts. LTD made its final contract offer Friday.
“The district made its best offer today that it thought it could make,” LTD Service Planning and Marketing Manager Andy Vobora said Friday. “Our board has said we’ve stretched probably as far as we can go and still meet the needs of the community.”
Hunt predicted Friday that the union membership would overwhelmingly vote down the offer, and union representatives and workers spent the weekend putting the finishing touches on the picket signs.
The union began preparing for the strike last week, and Hunt said members will be compensated $100 for every 40 hours they spend per week on the picket line.
The main sticking point in the
negotiations continues to be health care. LTD originally said it had to make the switch from a preferred provider plan to a managed care plan but has now offered a preferred provider plan, though the union said the cost difference is still the same as the managed care plan.
A decrease in health-care benefits should result in an increase in wage benefits, Hunt said, but the LTD has not offered the funds necessary to make up for the difference in health-care costs.
“It was talked that the money that’s in reserves was waiting for a rainy day — at 12:01 it’s about to pour,” Hunt said. “I suggest that they come back to the table with the money.”
LTD has said it will not hire replacement drivers and is hoping to get the buses back on the road as soon as possible, something Hunt said is entirely up to LTD management.
“The wage committee will be available at anytime, at any place, anywhere, ready to get back and get these buses moving again,” Hunt said.

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