L.A. Metro inks five-year pacts with transit labor

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (Metro) board yesterday approved five-year contracts with all five of its transit labor unions.

The contracts provide average annual salary adjustments of 4.2 percent compounded annually for all five unions over the life of the agreements.

Together, the new pacts will cost $36.4 million, or 0.7 percent of Metro's total $6.1 billion budget for fiscal year 2018. Salary adjustments will be retroactive to July 1.

The agreements mark the first five-year contracts in Metro's history, as well as the first time that all five unions have ratified contracts simultaneously, agency officials said in a press release.

In addition, the contracts were signed prior to the expiration of existing collective bargaining agreements.

The contracts are with the:
• Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation (SMART) union, which represents nearly 5,000 bus and rail operators;
• Amalgamated Transit Union, representing 2,465 mechanics and service attendants;
• Transportation Communications Union, representing 896 telephone information operators, clerks and other workers;
• American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, representing 785 transportation and maintenance supervisors for bus and rail; and
• Teamsters Union, representing 159 Metro transit security officers.

"These agreements are the result of collaboration and leadership from both Metro and our workers, and they reflect our shared commitment to serving the people of our region," said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who has begun a new term as Metro's chair.

The agreements also include a number of work rule changes that are expected to save Metro an estimated $8 million each year. The changes include reductions in absenteeism and overtime, as well as additional safety training.