Bus Drivers Walk Out on Short Notice

Striking bus drivers on Monday defended their decision to walk out on half an hour’s notice Sunday night--a move that caused chaos at bus stops and left many early-morning commuters scrambling to find alternate transportation.

“We’re very sorry for it but it couldn’t be avoided,” said Darlene (Sarge) Stephan, a driver and vice chairman of United Transportation Union Local 17.

The union voted shortly after 11:30 p.m. Sunday to go on strike at 12:01 a.m. Monday. Stephan said the vote was held at that hour so that drivers who worked Sunday shifts could participate in a full discussion of the issues. The timing wasn’t intended to disrupt the county’s bus system, she said.

Asked why the strike was called for Monday instead of today, union chairwoman Juliene Smith said the Orange County Transit District had plenty of notice that a strike vote was possible Sunday night and should have given riders ample warning.

Riders Called About Rumors

OCTD spokeswoman Joanne Curran said the district had answered numerous calls in the last week from riders who had heard rumors about an impending strike. OCTD merely provided information about Sunday’s vote and stated that a minimum level of service would be provided in case of a strike. “It was really hard to do more than that without jeopardizing the vote,” she said.

Curran said she did not believe the union’s vote was timed to leave riders stranded Monday morning.

Meanwhile, most drivers interviewed Monday said they could endure a long stretch on the picket line. Many said they are prepared to strike past Christmas if necessary.

“It’s going to be tough. My husband’s not working, so I’m the breadwinner,” said Tina, a driver who declined to give her full name. She said she has six children. “The kids will just have to wait (for Christmas presents).”

Union leader Smith said the local will assist drivers who may have a tough time making ends meet in the next few weeks by providing temporary jobs and cash payments of up to $225 a month. However, she said she believes that the strike will be settled before causing serious hardship.

‘Kind of Scary’

At the district yard on Woodbury Road in Garden Grove, several student drivers called in for emergency service chose not to cross the picket lines. “I believe in the strike, but I won’t know if I’ll have a job. It’s kind of scary,” said Cary Saathoff, 29, of Mission Viejo, who gave notice six weeks ago of her plans to resign as an OCTD dial-a-ride driver in order to train for bus driver duty. “We were told in class Friday that we’d be fired if we honored the picket lines. They (union representatives) tell me they can protect me, but who knows?

“I can go out and get another job, but I’m not looking for another job. I was looking for a career. . . . Now the bills have to be paid, and Christmas is right around the corner. It’s going to be tough, I think, for everybody, not just myself.”

Outside the OCTD terminal in Santa Ana on Monday, a handful of strikers greeted each bus as it pulled in.

Larry Burton, 30, a driver for seven years, said he was striking to protest unfair regulations on sick leaves.

He said the drivers sympathize with passengers, but he said that for weeks drivers had been warning passengers about the possibility of a strike.

“I think the passengers favor us. We explained to many of them in the past few weeks why we had to go on strike. I know they (wouldn’t) mind (the strike) if they knew what kind of conditions we had to work under,” Burton said.

“This strike isn’t over money. It’s over work conditions,” Burton said.

Another striker, Mark Andrews, 32, said: “I love my job, and I want to go back to work. But the work conditions are not right. It’s not fair to drivers that the OCTD can penalize us.”

Meanwhile, those who helped keep buses going Monday had differing reactions to the strike.

Driver Called ‘Scab’

“The whole thing is a real pain in the neck,” said Jim Witt, who works for Magic Carpet Transportation, a dial-a-ride subcontractor with OCTD, and drove a Magic Carpet vehicle Monday on the OCTD’s Santa Ana-to-Laguna Hills run.

Witt said a lot of riders wanted to know about him before boarding and many called him a “scab.” He told them he works for Magic Carpet, not for the district. Although Witt said he sympathizes with the OCTD drivers, he said his current job is much tougher than theirs and that he “makes a lot less money.”

But Marie Latino, an OCTD cleaning services worker who drove a bus in Westminster on Monday, said, “I love this chance to drive.”

“This gives me a chance to meet people and get out on the streets,” she said.

Latino, who has worked at OCTD for five years, said she was called a scab by the strikers even though she was on the other side of the picket line six years ago as a maintenance worker.

“I’m not worried about being called names, and they don’t mind calling me names,” Latino said. “After the strike, we will all mend and patch everything up including friendships.”