Santa Cruz County bus drivers go on strike

Thousands of people who use Santa Cruz County buses were forced to find rides, take taxis or walk Tuesday when bus drivers went on strike with only hours' notice.

The strike against the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District, known as Metro, came four days after a tentative pact was rejected by the transit board.

Metro serves up to 20,000 riders a day, 750 of whom take the Highway 17 Express over the hill into Santa Clara County and back to Santa Cruz County.

Some riders and local transit officials expressed anger that bus drivers had decided to strike without giving the public at least a couple of days notice.

``They have a right to strike and a right to disagree, but they're a public service union,'' said Les White, Metro's general manager. ``They should at least have notified the public to give them a chance so they could stock up on groceries and change doctor's appointments.''

But union officials noted the bus drivers union had already authorized a strike over the summer and that people following the issue should have sensed that a strike was imminent.

``The board basically pulled the deal away from us,'' said Carol Moore, president of Local 23 of the United Transportation Union.

The strike was called after the Metro board rejected an agreement negotiated by the district management and the union three weeks ago.

Under the tentative pact, bus drivers would have received a temporary reprieve from higher health insurance premiums in exchange for certain benefit cuts and an agreement not to walk out until at least July. But Friday, the Metro board rejected its negotiating team's recommendation, saying that temporary premium relief would be a mistake because it would hurt most drivers and help just a few.

At the Metro Center in downtown Santa Cruz, Robert Ibanez, 42, said he was taken aback by the strike.

Ibanez, who had a morning doctor's appointment on Emeline Street, was forced to walk 3 1/2 miles Tuesday morning despite his arthritis.

Expressing the sentiments of several riders, Ibanez said he supported the drivers. ``I just wish they had let us know this was going to happen,'' he said.

White called on the district's 145 unionized bus operators to cross the picket line in order to resume service on Metro's bus routes.

Jim Burns, a spokesman for the University of California-Santa Cruz, said slightly more than 10,000 students, faculty and staff use buses on weekdays when school is in session.

Burns said the university is providing more shuttle service on campus in addition to making some campus roads one-way so that drivers can park on the roads.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact Ken McLaughlin at kmclaughlin@mercurynews.com or (831) 423-3115.