Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS : TRANSPORTATION : County Bus Drivers Trade in Their Coaches for Picket Signs

Orange County’s 730 bus drivers walked off the job last Sunday night on half an hour’s notice, causing chaos at bus stops and stranding thousands of early-morning commuters.

Officials for United Transportation Union Local 19 said the disgruntled drivers decided to strike because of a disagreement with Orange County Transit District over wages, drug testing, the increased use of part-time drivers, the proposed elimination of cost-of-living increases and drivers’ absenteeism.

Neither side budged during the week. On Friday a state mediator joined the negotiations, shuttling between OCTD officials and union representatives in different rooms, but under the same roof, at an undisclosed location.

Riders, meanwhile, caught by surprise, scrambled to find alternate ways to get to work and around the county. Schoolchildren, the elderly, those without automobiles and the disabled were left to fend for themselves as the workweek got under way.

“From Long Beach to South Laguna, people are screaming. Their housekeepers are not there,” said Lupe McKnight, owner of National Domestic Agency, a Huntington Beach employment firm that matches domestic workers to those who need maids and baby sitters.

On the third day of the strike Wednesday, service was provided on 12 of the district’s 53 routes by 55 buses driven by management personnel and a few trainees. Joanne Curran, spokeswoman for the Transit District, said more than 19,000 passengers were served daily during the strike. On an average weekday before the strike, the district was reporting more than 112,000 boardings.

OCTD announced that, in order to give management personnel and driver trainees a rest, there would be no bus service today.

About 74% of the riders neither own nor have available to them automobiles for commuting, according to district spokeswoman Claudia Keith.

Although the pickets were peaceful for the most part, a Superior Court judge ordered district bus drivers to halt mass picketing at four sites, saying that the groups of strikers had created a “dangerous condition.”

Judge William F. Rylaarsdam signed a temporary restraining order on Wednesday limiting to four the number of pickets that can demonstrate at any district facility entrance. Transit District attorney Kenneth E. Ristau Jr. alleged that some members of the striking United Transportation Union Local 19 had threatened, intimidated and harassed supervisors driving buses.

Ristau told Rylaarsdam that “a barrage of bomb threats” had occurred since the start of the strike--an assertion flatly denied by union attorney James L. Evans.

Eighty to 100 drivers showed up at picket lines as the strike began Monday. Rylaarsdam limited the total number to 15 per facility--four at each entrance, 10 more no closer than 50 feet from the entrance, and one union official.

Transit District spokeswoman Curran said the district would not deviate from its offer of a 7.5% pay raise over 3 1/2 years. The union wants a 10% raise over three years.

“There is always room for repackaging (the contract proposal),” she said. “But the actual wage portion won’t be changed.”

Curran said the district also will not budge from its proposal to require drug testing of all drivers. Union officials have said they would agree to drug testing but want drivers to be allowed to get a second opinion from doctors of their own choosing in the case of a positive result.

Juliene Smith, Local 19 general chairman, said many testing labs have as much as 30% error on positive findings.

“We’re just asking for a fair chance to preserve our members’ dignity, constitutional rights and personal reputation,” Smith said. Smith added that the district’s desire to increase the percentage of part-time drivers from the current 10% to 20% over the life of its proposed contract was a major stumbling block in negotiations. She said the union would agree to an increase of 15%. “The most important issues are those affecting job security,” she said.

However, Curran said that was not an issue in negotiations.

“Every operator is guaranteed job security,” she said. “We will not fire anyone to reach this goal. It would be handled by attrition.”

The only other strike in the district’s 14-year history was in 1981, when bus drivers staged a 22-day walkout. All buses were grounded, but few problems were reported by commuters or their employers. The 1981 strike was followed by an increase in ridership, despite a 50% fare hike.