The possibility of a strike by the union representing Port Authority bus-trolley operators is getting increased public attention.
The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership and the Allegheny Conference on Community Development met yesterday with business leaders, advising them to start planning now in case of a walkout this fall by members of Local 85, Amalgamated Transit Union, who have been working without a contract since June 30.
About 200 people representing employers from throughout the region discussed such exigencies as carpooling, allowing employees to work from home and creating flexible work schedules in case there is a strike.
The Allegheny Conference also announced that it has set up a Web site, www.KeepPittsburghMoving.com, that contains resources to help employers prepare for a possible transit shutdown.
Save Our Transit, representing riders who have demonstrated locally and in Harrisburg to preserve service and gain sufficient funding, also met last night to discuss the issue and urge both sides to reconcile differences to prevent a strike.
"A strike would cause irreparable harm to people who rely on transit to get to work or to their doctor, to employers and to the transit system," said Jonathan Robison, a Save Our Transit spokesman and longtime transit activist. "The discretionary riders, those who have a choice, will go elsewhere" if there's another strike like the last one in 1992, he said, which lasted 28 days and took court intervention to settle.
The Port Authority and Local 85 currently are engaged in state-mandated fact-finding. The 45-day process is to conclude no later than Aug. 29; both sides then will have 15 days to accept or reject in whole the fact-finder's recommended settlement.
The main issues are health care, retirement, pension benefits and a recently disclosed new issue -- growing employee absenteeism that has been adding to overtime costs and resulting in late or missed transit runs.
County Chief Executive Dan Onorato has been withholding county money that the authority needs to continue qualifying for matching state funds to meet payroll and general operating expenses. He has threatened to withhold the money until Local 85 agrees to a contract that enables management to bring legacy costs in line with other public agencies, cut expenses and become more efficient.
If fact-finding fails to result in a contract, the two sides are expected to resume meetings with mediators to explore what recommendations could form the basis for possible agreement. At the same time, Local 85 members would likely meet to authorize their leaders to call a strike as a measure of last resort.
First Published: August 7, 2008, 4:00 a.m.
