Metro Transit union approves new contract after months of negotiation

Dec. 20--ST. LOUIS -- After months of negotiations, Metro Transit's main employee union this week approved a new contract offer that includes a higher starting pay for bus drivers and a rollover of employee health plan contributions to address rising insurance costs.

"It was a long fight," said Reggie Howard, president of Local 788 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents about 1,500 employees including MetroBus drivers and MetroLink operators. "But we feel really good about it."

The three-year contract offer, approved by ATU-represented employees on Tuesday, includes a 2.25% increase in the first year, followed by 3% pay increases the following two years.

The contract requires that employees' medical plan contributions are rolled over into the next year -- a key focus of negotiations -- and expands sick leave accommodations, Howard said. It also raises starting hourly pay for bus drivers from $14.65 to $16.22 and also increases compensation for working nights and weekends.

The contract amounts to an overall increase of $26 million in wages and benefits over three years, up 9.4% over the current levels, Metro Executive Director Jessica Mefford-Miller said.

The raises will help attract and retain employees, she said.

"I'm so pleased that we're entering the new year with a new agreement and I'm delighted to offer a wage increase to our employees who do good work everyday."

The executive board of Bi-State Development Agency, which oversees Metro, will have to approve the contract. Mefford-Miller said the board has followed the contract negotiations and could take a vote at a special meeting in early January.

But security and safety for Metro employees remains an issue, Howard said. Bi-State is in the process of studying and revamping its security with increased presence from area police departments and other measures.

"We're glad they're looking at it," Howard said. "But just listening to the talk -- we've got to see it put in action."

The union's last regular contract with Metro expired in 2016 and an extension ended June 30. During the contract talks, there were delays on some bus routes and MetroLink routes because some drivers or operators refused to work overtime shifts or didn't report to work for various reasons. However, union officials have said those actions were not related to any campaign of theirs.

Bi-State is also in the process of contract negotiations with electrical workers with the local chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Mefford-Miller said Bi-State plans to formally offer IBEW Local 1 a new contract soon.

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Nassim Benchaabane

Reporter covering breaking news and crime by night. Born in Algeria but grew up in St. Louis. Previously reported for The Associated Press in Jackson, Mississippi and at the Wichita Eagle in Wichita, Kansas.

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