Strike averted: Sun Tran, Teamsters reach three year deal | Local News

TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) – More than 400 Teamster-backed Sun Tran employees and Tucson’s transit provider came to a new three-year contract, Sunday night averting a possible bus strike.

Union members overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike earlier this summer. Negotiations went on for weeks. Union members did not previously walk off the job despite failed talks late last month. The Teamsters Local Union No. 104 announced Sunday that 75% of its membership approved the new deal, which includes several guarantees related to safety.

Teamsters Local 104 Principal Officer Karla Schumann said the last Sun Tran employee strike in 2015 “was all about safety,” but the safety issues employees deal with today are vastly worse.

“Open air drug use, people attack you, knives, guns, all kinds of crazy things in transit, right? Schumann said. “Nobody in their right mind saw that happening, but it has been happening for a long time, and their concerns haven’t been reacted to, and I can’t blame them for being stressed about that.”

The new deal includes improved protective barriers for all Sun Tran buses, a timeline for installing those new barriers, emergency alarms, a new radio system and allowing operators to act during safety incidents.

Union leadership said its members will also now have a formal role in the development of safety policies and procedures.

Sun Tran touted the new collective bargaining agreement’s “competitive wages, retirement benefits, and meaningful investments in safety.”

“Safety was central to every discussion,” Sun Tran wrote in a statement Sunday night. “The agreement gives operators and maintenance employees the tools, resources, and support to do their jobs safely and effectively, including continued investments in security, modern technology, enhanced training, updated operating procedures, and improved operator protective barriers.”

Schumann said the vote in favor of the new contract could have passed by a larger margin.

“And I think that’s because our members aren’t feeling that they have a guarantee of safety, tomorrow, today, right?” Schumann said. “They still have apprehension about whether or not they’ll be enough security, whether they’ll be enough police. Whether or not there is a solid plan out in the streets to keep them safe, and I can’t argue with that.”

Schumann hopes more can be done by working with the City of Tucson, Sun Tran and other stakeholders.