Santa Clara VTA recommends board approval for union contract

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority's (VTA) board today will consider a tentative labor contract with members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 265.

VTA staff will recommend the board approve a three-year ATU labor agreement, which was ratified on Aug. 29. Alternatively, the board may instruct staff to continue negotiations, according to the labor contract agreement.

The tentative agreement consists of a 3 percent wage increase each year for three years, for a 9 percent total wage increase.

In addition, ATU employees would receive a slight increase in vision plan coverage, shift differential wages and pay for employees who perform bilingual duties.

The terms of the agreement would run from Sept. 9 through Sept. 8, 2022, and would increase labor costs for ATU employees by $37.4 million over the next three years. 

The incremental costs of $18.5 million are not included in the board-approved fiscal-year 2020-2021 budget, so VTA staff will seek approval this fall to augment the budget. Additionally, they will include a $18.9 million cost for FY2022 in the FY 2022-2023 biennial budget, according to the agreement.