Both Sides to Resume Talks : Court Bars Strike by RTD Drivers for 60 Days

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Wednesday issued an injunction blocking Southern California Rapid Transit District bus drivers from striking for at least 60 days, prompting both sides to resume contract talks.

Judge John L. Cole, responding to a request from Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp, ordered a two-month “cooling-off period,” which cleared the way for renewed negotiations.

The 5,000-member AFL-CIO United Transportation Union had voted two weeks ago to walk out after its contract expired at midnight on Feb. 12. However, a strike was delayed when Gov. George Deukmejian intervened at the request of both sides and asked Van de Kamp to seek the court order.

In issuing his order Wednesday, Cole agreed with the attorney general’s contention that a strike was imminent and would “significantly disrupt transportation services” and “endanger the public welfare.” With those criteria met, Cole was required under state labor law to order the cooling-off period, and he did so during a brief session in his chambers.

March 1 Talks

Afterward, both union leaders and RTD officials said they will resume contract talks March 1 in an effort to break the deadlock over wages and benefits.

“I’m pleased, obviously,” RTD President Nikolas Patsaouras said. “We are ready to go back to the negotiating table.”

“I think now we’ll sit down and really talk about the issues . . . ,” said Earl Clark, general chairman of the bus drivers union.

Clark said the union did not oppose the court order because its leaders believed realistic bargaining would not take place until all legal avenues of blocking a strike were exhausted. However, he told The Times: “I don’t expect a quick agreement. If an agreement is reached, it’s going to be near the end of the 60 days.”

The injunction is scheduled to expire at midnight April 21. If there is still no settlement by then, Clark promised that his union would set a strike date, raising prospects of a possible sixth RTD walkout in the last 13 years.

PAst Experience

Both Clark and Patsaouras said they hoped that a strike could be avoided. However, in the past, similar cooling-off periods have preceded strikes, including a five-day walkout in 1982 and a 68-day strike in 1974--the district’s longest work stoppage.

The union is currently seeking a 4% pay raise in both years of the two-year contract, increases in fringe benefits and improved working conditions. The average RTD driver now earns $11.90 an hour, with a top hourly wage of $12.72.

The RTD is proposing pay bonuses if drivers improve in such areas as reducing absenteeism, accidents and customer complaints. The district also balked at labor’s request for higher wages, citing the expected loss of $43 million in sales tax revenue during the next fiscal year, which has already led the district to approve fare increases that take effect in July.