UTA union threatens to go to court

The Utah Transit Authority's largest union on Wednesday threatened to take the agency to court to resolve a contract dispute.

Both sides believe they have the law on their side.

Representatives of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 382, speaking for the first time since the UTA Board of Trustees on Monday adopted a two-year contract that 99 percent of the union voted against, said the trustees' actions violate a section of the Federal Transit Act.

"Transit districts that receive federal funds must provide adequate assurance that their labor relationships are fair and equitable," said the union's attorney, Joe Hatch, at a news conference Wednesday. "And of course, over the years, (that section of law) has gone through a lot of court cases as to what those terms mean."

The union, which represents 1,250 bus and train drivers, as well as parts and maintenance employees, believes that UTA walked away from the bargaining table and declared an impasse too soon. Typically, when a deal can't be hammered out, the dispute is taken to what's called a "fact-finder,"finder's recommendation is released, public pressure will force both sides to sign a contract, Hatch said.

Although each side pays half of the $4,000 to $5,000 bill for a fact-finder, the union thinks it's UTA's responsibility to get one.

The union believes that the contract that expired Monday should be the contract under which the union works until a new one can be negotiated. The union is happy with the three -year-old contract, Hatch said.

If negotiations don't continue or a fact-finder isn't found, Hatch expects to be in court during the first week of January, he said.

UTA believes that the time for fact-finding is over, and the union should have requested it before the three-year contract expired, said UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter. "Negotiations went on for almost five months, and there were 14 negotiating sessions," Carpenter said.

The union has said it wants to enter arbitration to settle finer points of fact-finding, which is allowed by the Federal Transit Act, and UTA will comply, Carpenter said.

The union also said UTA has mischaracterized the nature of the contract dispute by talking about wages. The union understands that pay raises are off the table because sales tax revenues, which fund most of UTA's operations, are down. The union members are more concerned with working conditions. UTA wants to hire part-time drivers for trains. Part-timers would not get the same benefits as full-timers, and the union opposes the hiring of part-timers.