After 42 days, the bus strike is over. Sun Tran routes will be back to normal tomorrow. 

With a vote of 351 to 41, the bus drivers and mechanics who have been picketing for six weeks approved a deal between the Teamsters Local Union 104 and Professional Transit Management—the company contracted by the city of Tucson to oversee Sun Tran. The two had reached a tentative agreement early Wednesday morning. Teamsters mediator Andy Marshall says it is a two-year agreement, but he gave a commitment to several parties he wouldn’t give much detail on the contract’s finances for now. 

“The (city) budget was not reopened, there was no money taken from any other department. It was funds that either existed or city savings, strike savings. It was all internal,” he told the Weekly after the vote count ended at around 7 p.m. “We didn’t get everything we wanted…but…we got the respected we deserve. It was better than what we rejected. A lot of hard struggle, but I am very proud of my people. It is an honor to work for them.”

Last week, the Tucson City Council voted for French-based Transdev to use the roughly $500,000 in fuel savings that was returned to the city’s general fund during the fiscal year, as well as the hundreds of thousands the company has saved up during the strike (because no one involved is getting paid), as a sign of good faith to find a resolution. Those funds ended up being used to settle negotiations, according to Marshall and Sun Tran.

The bus strike began Aug. 6, after the union rejected Sun Tran’s three-year proposal, which included a lesser starting wage for new employees, and no raises for current employees. Fixing ongoing mold problems and demands for better security were also on the negotiating table, and Marshall says Sun Tran has already begun to address the issues. “It’s going to take time, but they are on it,” he said. 

Throughout the strike, Sun Tran was able to run 13 routes in a limited service, in part thanks to some management and administrative staffers helping out, as well as 15 others from out of state, who were hired by Transdev (PTM’s father company). In the meantime, 66,000 people who rely on the bus to go to work, doctor’s appointments, etc. were left to scramble how to get around.

“I look forward to a productive relationship with the Teamsters membership moving forward and I’m pleased a new contract could be reached,” said Sun Tran General Manager Kate Riley in a statement to the media. “We recognize how difficult this process has been for all of our passengers and the community, and are happy to operate all 43 routes starting tomorrow.”

This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2015.

I was born and raised in Guatemala City, Guatemala. I moved to Tucson about 10 years ago. Since I was old enough to enjoy reading, I developed an interest in writing, and telling stories through different...

15 replies on “Bus Strike Ends! The Teamsters Approve Sun Tran’s Two-Year Deal”

  3. This is wrong wrong wrong!!

    Using funds that came from savings during the strike to pay the strikers is whats known as a temporary income stream. It doesn’t solve the problem of a bus system that funds itself through revenues generated by the service it provides.

    Secondly, why is there not full disclosure as to what the terms of the settlement were? As taxpayers, this is our money and we have a right to know how it is being spent.

    This city council is freakin’ joke — if not criminal in their handling of city business.

    PLEASE vote these fools out of office!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  4. Suntran planned this from the start. And will pocket the rest of the savings. All bullshit. Oh, and since the vast majority of the media is incorrectly reporting Tucson City Council has been against fare increases…fyi, there have been 3 increases in 5 years. So, yeah, they probably don’t want to tax the poor anymore since it is already the fastest increase in the nation and day passes have nearly doubled in that time frame.

  6. From now on, I’m treating the drivers only as a convenience sitting in front of the wheel to do their job to drive us bis riders wherever we want . No matter how much they earn, they are still there only to provide the riders with a service. If it weren’t for us bus riders they would starve & they didn’t appreciate that. I have much more respect for the waters & waitresses who actually care about the customers they serve. No respect either for the politicians==Mayor included–who sold us out.

  7. I know I wouldn’t want to put my life on the line, trying to protect myself, as a hypothetical bus driver, from violent acts from irate riders! And don’t get me started about mold in the workplace… yuck! Bus drivers deserve protection from harmful elements, just like the rest of us, so stop whining!

  8. We are only “whining” because those of us not protected by the union have gone homeless, jobless, in debt, etc. Why? Because bus drivers want more money. That is it. The mold happens to be a by product to make a some what valid excuse for the strike. It all boils down to money. I would be more than happy to take a job where I sit down for most of it and occasionally talk to paying customers. Not only would I have been happy to take it for the 19.22, I would have taken it for 10. That is how desperate some of are. Did the drivers go homeless while they made the choice not to work, no. So deal with the whining or quit.

  9. I still don’t understand why mold is a strike issue. Why didn’t someone just call OSHA and let them order the company to fix it?

  10. While I don’t agree with the strike…. Driving a bus is a lot harder than what people think. It’s not like driving your family car. People drive like maniacs and you have the lives of passengers/pedestrians/other motorists in your hands. And as a fellow passenger, people who ride the bus aren’t so innocent either…. Think of adult children nagging, kicking, screaming in the back of your car while driving…. Except being verbally and physically assaulted on occasion and praying you won’t run late so you don’t lose your break at the end of the line. At the same time, there are many drivers who have a job that they don’t deserve…. Just as there are bad passengers, there are equally bad bus drivers…. That being said, while drivers here don’t make as much compared to cost of living as other cities, it is still a livable wage.

  11. I learned that the Mayor and City Council members are not leaders and are not really my representatives.

    I use the bus, I have friends who use the bus. I know many students who could not work this semester and go to school. Many did not take the classes they needed. I know people who lost their jobs.

    I am a registered voter. So, they can say and do whatever they want from this point on, but when it is my time to vote – they are dead to me.

    I am also disappointed in Suntran AND the union. Strike again and I will support replacement and temporary employees to break the strike.

  12. In a Right to Work State it just delights me that the Union won…Obviously non of you above people have sat in the in the Driver’s seat…
    I have and it’s not fun to work in a hostile work environment…

    The Management did’ not care about these driver’s…why do I ?
    I love it when hard working people get fair treatment and fair wages…Yes Proud Teamster Local 781 Patricia – Union Stewart and Union Organizer Local 781 Chicago has nothing but pride in the Teamster’s Union…They helped me so many times…I’m grateful…

  13. I’m amazed at the comments like some of the ones in reply to this article and similar comments that have been made throughout the strike. They go something like this: I don’t get paid squat, I get no benefits, and I have no retirement plan – who do these drivers think they are striking for more pay when they already make more than I do!

    Imagine the nerve of workers in this country thinking they should be paid well enough to support their families and send their kids to school without having to hold down two or three jobs to do it. Or thinking they should have safe working conditions and healthcare that won’t wipe out their savings if they are unfortunate enough to get sick or injured. Or thinking they should have a pension instead of working until they drop dead or being invested in the Wall Street lottery scheme called a 401K.

    You know, there were people who fought and died (yes, died – at the hands of gunmen hired by business owners or, in some cases, the US Army) in order to secure the right of workers to organize in order to collectively bargain for better treatment from their employers. But, over the last 40 years or so, we’ve stood idly by and let those rights be taken away from us while being fed fantasies about how the free market was going to make us all millionaires.

    And now, we turn on each other. Workers who are being abused by their employers are getting angry at the few workers who still have some ability to demand decent treatment. Instead of asking, why do these guys get paid better than me and get medical benefits and a retirement, you should be asking why am I not getting decent compensation for my work! At a time when corporate profits are at record highs and, even with the recent “corrections,” the stock market is still yielding unprecedented returns, the question is, why are so many workers in this country so poorly compensated? The answer is that it is a race to the bottom and you’re standing on the sidelines cheering!

    Take a minute to think about who you should really be angry with. It’s not the drivers…

  14. How dare the drivers want more money and safer working conditions, they should be like the rest of us and never want more money or to be safe helping others.

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