Fired bus driver, union sue UTA

SALT LAKE CITY — A bus driver and the union representing her have sued the Utah Transit Authority for wrongful termination and breach of contract because UTA refuses to attend an arbitration hearing over the matter.

Both the union and UTA say the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in 3rd District Court, is the result of a lack of a mutually agreed-upon contract for the workers for 2010 and 2011, a matter which UTA and the union are battling out in court in a separate lawsuit filed in April.

According to the most recent suit, on March 21 UTA terminated a driver over an "incident" with a customer. The suit didn't get into any specifics of the nature of the incident and UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter said he couldn't legally talk about the termination, except that it was related to customer complaints.

The driver and the union wanted the termination reviewed in arbitration, according to the suit. The union contends that the driver has a right to arbitration because of a collective bargaining agreement that they want a judge to decide either is implied or exists under current working conditions.

However, Carpenter said Wednesday night that UTA doesn't believe there is a collective bargaining agreement between the union and UTA.

The labor dispute between UTA and union began in late 1999, as the clock began running out on the old collective bargaining agreement and UTA and the union couldn't hammer out a new contract for 2010 and 2011. In December, days before the contract expired, UTA offered the union its so-called "last, best and final offer" for a new contract. Ninety-nine percent of the union opposed it, but days later, UTA's board of trustees voted to implement it.

With Utah being a "right-to-work" state and UTA workers promising not to strike, the employees have been working under the conditions since the beginning of the year.

The first court hearing over the April lawsuit is on Friday, and Judge L.A. Dever may clear up some issues that could affect the former employee's suit that was filed last week, said Joe Hatch, an attorney representing the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 382.

e-mail: lhancock@desnews.com

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