Utah law also forbids a strike by UTA drivers

Like New York transit workers, Utah Transit Authority workers would find themselves on the wrong side of the law in a strike. State law doesn't give them the right.

But as 33,000 bus and subway operators in New York flouted the law Tuesday and went on strike, causing the nation's largest transit system to skid to a stop, it prompted two questions: Can UTA workers actually strike, and what would that mean for Utah's transit system?

"It's illegal for them to strike," said Jerry Benson, UTA chief performance officer. "If they did, it would be an illegal wildcat strike. If the employees did strike, UTA could fairly quickly get a court to impose some injunction or stop order in order to get them to work."

In New York, the operators' union was hit with a $1 million-a-day fine Tuesday. But representatives from the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 382, which represents mechanics and UTA bus and TRAX operators, hinted that they would "do what they needed to do" during a contract negotiation.

UTA workers went on a one-day strike in 1979. In 1981, UTA had a lockout, which is also illegal.

If bus and TRAX operators were to go on strike, approximately 120,000 people could be affected. UTA serves residents in six Wasatch Front counties and records an average of 120,000 transit trips daily.

Benson says UTA's relationship with the transit union is such that they could amicably work a contract deal. If negotiations were at a standstill, a federal mediator could be brought in to facilitate compromise, he said. A mediator was brought in during UTA's last contract negotiation with the transit union.

Other tools are available if mediation fails. But regardless, Benson says a strike wouldn't happen in Utah.

"It would mean 120,000 trips served by transit that have to find some other way," he said. "It's a real inconvenience to people. It really would be a bad situation. We're not going to let that happen here."

UTA's next contract negotiation with the Amalgamated Transit Union is anticipated to begin in December 2006. About 1,200 UTA employees are represented by the union; approximately 900 are bus drivers.

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com