A Los Angeles City Council committee on Wednesday, April 3, approved a recommendation to increase wages for city bus drivers, mechanics and utility workers.
Teamsters Local 572, which represents about 360 transportation workers, who drive and maintain the city’s transit fleet, including DASH, Commuter Express, Cityride and LAnow, announced in March that they authorized a strike — though no action plans were disclosed. The union said its members are asking for an increase in wages that are at par or higher than other transportation services in the L.A. region.
The five-member Transportation Committee voted 4-0 in favor of increasing those workers’ base wages up to $24.14 per hour starting this year — with plans to bump wages to $25.36 per hour in the 2024-25 fiscal year. Councilwoman Nithya Raman, who sits on the committee, was absent during the vote.
The workers are hired and trained by contractors MV Transportation and MV Public Transportation, which will require the city to amend its contracts in order to facilitate the wage increase. The recommendation will be considered by the full City Council at a later date.
MV Public Transportation did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
City officials are set to meet with the union Friday to discuss negotiations. In addition to higher wages, union members are calling for better working conditions.
Prior to the vote, about 10 workers told the panel of council members they were overworked and feared for their safety.
“We are overworked, underpaid and we deal with a lot of different people with different mental issues and illness,” Mataya Hayes, an MV Transportation bus operator for more than 10 years, said during the public comment portion of the meeting. “I work in the city, I live in the city, and I should be able to afford to live here.”
The Department of Transportation said the city has installed driver barriers on some of its buses. In addition, the city will receive 130 new electric buses that also incorporate driver barriers — a type of fencing installed to prevent potential physical attacks.
The city is also looking to implement a transit ambassador program, similar to an LA Metro initiative, to provide a greater sense of security at night and at “hot spot areas.” City officials noted they are complying with federal guidelines on safety, and taking steps to create a safety committee, which would meet with drivers and other transportation workers to improve safety measures.
DOT officials noted MV Transportation offers an “extensive” driver safety training. Bus drivers can also reach dispatch supervisors, as well as 911 operators, and there are cameras placed on buses too.
Laura Rubio-Cornejo, general manager for DOT, said in a report that the coronavirus pandemic changed the city’s approach to hiring bus drivers —and ongoing market and health issues continue to exacerbate the staffing shortage and cause delays in routes being on-time.
Rubio-Cornejo cited in her report that the coronavirus pandemic changed the city’s approach to hiring bus drivers — and ongoing market and health issues continue to exacerbate the staffing shortage and cause delays in routes being on time.
She also acknowledged that while LADOT and the contractor have made “strides” in hiring to fill vacancies, the greatest obstacle they face is retention of new hires.
“As recently as 2021, the largest share of employees leaving the company had a year or more of tenure, but throughout 2022 and 2023 more than half of all drivers who separated from employment had been with the contractor for less than three months,” the report said.
“In 2023, slightly less than 60% of newly hired drivers left the company within (three) months and over 80% left the company within the first year of their employment.”
An increase in the base rate to $24.15 per hour for all contracts is estimated to cost the city $6.2 million for the remaining fiscal year 2023-24. Funding to cover the contract and increased wages would come from the Proposition A Local Transit Assistance Fund, according to the report.
City leaders have been aware of the union’s concerns. Council President Paul Krekorian and Councilwoman Heather Hutt, chair of the Transportation Committee, introduced a motion on Jan. 18, 2023, to address a bus driver shortage as well as to examine possible wage increases.
