Road Runner: Sun Link streetcar workers vote to join Teamsters

In early October, 14 of 19 eligible Sun Link Streetcar employees voted on whether to join the Teamsters Union and, among those who participated, the result was a unanimous yes.

That vote adds to the union density of the local transit system, in which the far more numerous Sun Tran and Sun Van drivers are already represented by the same union.

Kevin Thomas, a Teamster business agent with Local 104, was circumspect in his comments about employee concerns to the Road Runner, citing the fact that contract negotiations haven’t started with Sun Link’s private management company, RDMT, and likely won’t for several months.

He did say that while defending wages and benefits are a “part of what we do, we’re really here to improve working conditions and facilitate workers’ rights.”

And that’s something City Councilwoman Regina Romero says is worth celebrating.

“I’m a huge believer in labor, in labor organizing and the power they have to improve the lives of working families,” she said, adding that she’s “happy” Sun Link workers chose to join.

But in a recent newsletter to his constituents, Councilman Steve Kozachik raised another issue on the minds of many, including Romero, after the vote.

“They will now have the right to collectively bargain over wages, hours, and working conditions,” he wrote. “And they’ll have the right to strike.”

The 42-day strike that immobilized the Sun Tran public bus system last year, an event still fresh in the memories of many officials, workers and riders, has had lasting impacts on ridership, among other effects. For example, July 2016 ridership figures were down nearly 16 percent from the same month the year before. Everyone the Road Runner spoke to, city, union and management officials alike, is hoping to avoid a repeat at Sun Link.

“That is not the first option that anybody looks for. Trying to avert (a strike) is what we want to do at all costs,” Thomas said, almost perfectly echoing comments from Kozachik.

It’s important to point out that if there were to be a Sun Link strike, it would be far less disruptive than the Sun Tran strike: Sun Link serves a much smaller portion of the metro area and around 4,000 riders daily, while Sun Tran served around 12 times that many riders every day in August.

In the contract negotiations that eventually ended the Sun Tran strike, workers won pay increases, some of them sizable, and improved benefits, which were paid for with wage and benefit savings during the strike and lower fuel costs.

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But a strike wasn’t necessary to get there, Kozachik argued. He pointed to a lack of negotiating creativity on the part of the private company that manages Sun Tran, Professional Transit Management, and “mixed signals” from the city about what funds were available to meet union demands.

Both Sun Link and Sun Tran are interesting entities in that their equipment is publicly owned, management is private, and budgets are set by public bodies. That’s why “realistic expectations” on the part of labor and management are necessary, Steve Bethel, RDMT’s streetcar general manager, said.

Kozachik agreed, saying, “Anybody who is bargaining for wages has to understand that your chunk of that budget is fixed by the mayor and council.”

The amount budgeted for Sun Link’s “contracted labor” in the current city budget is just shy of $2 million. The city’s contribution to Sun Link from the general budget also rose nearly 75 percent to $1.7 million, while the Regional Transportation Authority’s fell 40 percent to $1.2 million.

Bethel said that current Sun Link driver wages can range from $14.87 to $20.05 per hour, and maintenance technicians range from $19.43 to $21.80 an hour. Health, dental, vision and life insurance are also provided. He declined to say what sort of raises, if any, could be possible with the current budget.

While this is the first time Sun Link workers have been represented by a union, an official complaint was filed by the National Labor Relations Board last summer alleging management actions that interfered with the right to unionize, according to records previously obtained by the Star. Bethel said the complaint was found to be without merit and dismissed, which is backed up by online NLRB records.

To avoid a contract negotiation impasse, Romero said that “honest” communication between the three parties concerned — the city, the Teamsters and RDMT — is key. That means the council sending clear messages about how it wants workers treated and the city manager acting as a relay between the main players so the council knows “what to expect.”

“It is not … (the union) against us, or them against riders, or them against the rest of the departments of the city of Tucson,” she added. “I would hope that we can work together and be clear in terms of what their needs are, and what the mayor and council can do with the budget constraints that we have.”

DOWN THE ROAD

This Thursday, the Pima County Department of Transportation and contractor Southern Arizona Paving will begin a paving project on Avra Valley Road between Interstate 10 and Airline Road. Between Nov. 3 and Nov. 30, crews will be clearing, potholing, grading and milling the road. Paving will start Dec. 1 and is expected to be finished by Dec. 20. Crews will work between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., and flaggers and pilot cars will be on site. Minor delays are anticipated.

In the city, another fog and crack-seal project is set to start Tuesday. Crews will work through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fort Lowell Road between Campbell Avenue and Country Club Road. Lane restrictions will be in place, though at least one lane in each direction will be open.