The GRTC Transit System's union tonight rejected the company's contract proposal by about a two-thirds margin, the union's president said.
Now, the Amalgamated Transit Union's Local 1220 and the company will meet Thursday for a scheduled mediation session with a third party to try to work out a contract agreement, said union president Deloris Coker.
The union voted at the meeting hall of the Bakery, Confectionary and Tobacco Workers International Union Local 203-T in South Richmond. The union represents 278 members of GRTC's 492 employees.
Their contract expired Oct. 1, and contract talks broke down last week.
GRTC Chief Executive Officer John Lewis has said that because of a budget shortfall, GRTC could not allow for raises. Overall, ridership is down 3 percent, state aid is down 15 percent with more cuts to come, hiring is frozen and seven routes have been dropped.
Coker said the union was asking for a $305 uniform allowance and an increase in the wage rate for the company's lower-paid paratransit drivers. The top pay rate for GRTC's bus operators is $19.84 an hour, according to Lewis, while paratransit vehicle drivers make $11 an hour.
Wages make up about half of the company's $46 million annual budget, Lewis said.
With a base fare of $1.25, GRTC carries about 40,000 riders a day during the week on 40 routes.
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