Bus Service Resumes In Orange County For Election Day: OCTA Strike

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — Bus service will resume Monday amid ongoing negotiations between the Orange County Transportation Authority and the union representing its maintenance workers, but that reprieve could be short-lived, with the union threatening to return to the picket lines after Election Day if no agreement is reached.

Negotiations resumed over the weekend, offering hope for an end to the strike that shut down all bus service in the county last week. Teamsters leaders agreed to lift the picket lines Monday and Tuesday so commuters can get to the polls on Election Day. If there is no agreement by Wednesday the union likely will hit the picket lines again, once again halting bus service.

Eric Jimenez, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 952, told City News Service on Sunday that the two sides talked Saturday and Sunday. Jimenez said the union pulled pickets down at 4 p.m. Sunday, but they may go back in a day or two, and characterized talks as going "pretty slow."

Transit agency officials said service would resume Monday, but passengers were advised to expect some delays.

"We hope that there will be no further disruption in service and that we can work this out without affecting the people that count on OC Bus to get to work, school and other important destinations," said OCTA Chairman Mark Murphy, who is also the mayor of Orange.