May Day Special: After the VTA strike, is AC Transit Next?

By Amy Thomson

May 1 is International Workers Day, commemorating the day in 1886 when many U.S. workers went on strike to demand an 8-hour workday – a time when 16-hour shifts weren’t unusual.

But an 8-hour shift isn’t the norm for today’s transit operators, who often work 12-hour days and then face a long commute home. Workers are often not paid enough to live where they work, which requires high gas costs to commute or results in them sleeping in their cars between shifts. 

Operating a transit vehicle isn’t easy, either. Transit workers are not just keeping transit riders safe on the roads, navigating traffic and dangerous drivers, but also navigating the perils of increasing assaults by riders and demanding shifts due to worker shortages. Improving worker conditions is the only way to combat a worker shortage.

Tell your state representative to fund transit operations so agencies can more easily improve working conditions and pay for the people who make transit possible!

South Bay Transit Workers’ Struggle Continues

After six months of unsuccessful negotiations between VTA management and workers regarding a new work contract, VTA workers went on strike on March 10th. Demands included fair wages, benefits, and grievance procedures. Management refused, negotiations failed, and for the first time since the 1960s, the VTA transit operators’ union, ATU Local 265, went on strike.

The 17-day strike affected tens of thousands of people. Beyond the uncertainty for the workers and their loved ones, this left many transit riders with no other options. People talked about riding their bikes in the dark when they would rather be on the bus, or resorting to asking for a ride on NextDoor.com.

While strikes typically end with some sort of agreement, this one didn’t. There is STILL no contract for the ATU Local 265 workers. VTA took the workers to court, claiming the strike wasn’t legal. The court sided with VTA, forcing transit operators back to work without a new contract – you can read more about that here. 

While it’s a relief that transit has been restored for the South Bay, it shouldn’t be at the expense of fair wages for transit operators. We must continue to support our transit operators through contract negotiations. Uniting transit worker demands with those of transit riders is one of the strongest ways to create a transit system that supports everyone with frequent and reliable service. You can speak out and let VTA management know you stand for the union by sending a letter here.

Could AC Transit Be Next?

The contract between AC Transit and its workers expires on June 30, 2025, and it’s clear the operators face the same issues of low pay and poor working conditions. In June 2024, an AC Transit board meeting was at maximum capacity, with people flooding into the hallway, holding signs that said “fix our schedules.” Today’s schedules don’t allow operators enough time between shifts to rest or use the restroom, causing them to dehydrate to make it through. Organized by the People’s Transit Alliance, riders and workers demanded that AC Transit improve working conditions so they could hire and retain more operators.

The years-long fight for improved working conditions is coupled with a regional funding crisis. Transit operators across the Bay Area lack sufficient funds to maintain current service levels, let alone improve them. Transit is a public good; lawmakers, advocates, and the government are working to identify new funding sources through ballot measures and budget requests to keep this essential service running.

We urge the AC Transit board to listen and respect the needs of their workers, and collaborate with them to improve working conditions and offer a fair contract. We hope that all parties can work together to reach an agreement and ensure that the transit service riders depend on can continue uninterrupted. 

Details about the negotiations are not yet public, but we expect more information to come out soon. In the meantime, as transit riders, we are ready to stand with transit workers because a transit system that doesn’t work for workers doesn’t work for anyone. So when the time comes, we’ll be there at board meetings or, if it comes to it, on the picket lines. 

Solidarity forever