OCTA approves new labor contract with maintenance workers

Orange County Transportation Authority board members Monday approved a new contract with the agency’s maintenance workers, who briefly hit the picket lines last month in a strike that threatened to cripple bus service in the county.

Teamsters Local 952 members ratified the new three-year contract over the weekend, and the board of directors for the transportation agency approved it at its meeting Monday morning.

“We are excited that both sides were able to work out differences, find common ground and keep our buses running for the tens of thousands of people who rely on OC Bus to get to work, to school and other important destinations,” OCTA Chairman  Mark Murphy said in a statement. “This contract rewards our maintenance employees for the great work they do.”

The maintenance workers fix the buses and gas them up, so OCTA officials said they could not safely run the agency’s vehicles without them on the job.

The 150 maintenance workers will receive a 5% pay raise over each of the next three years and also get a $1,250 signing bonus.

The new contract will run through the end of 2025.

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