The Tucson City Council decided to butt in Wednesday in the ongoing Sun Tran strike, telling the management team to “make every effort to resolve the labor dispute immediately.”
Yesterday was the 36th day of the strike and up until now, the Council has claimed that they can do nothing about it.
In a desperate attempt to hold on to whatever union support they had left, the Council members directed the City Manager to tell Professional Transit Management, which is the contracted management of Sun Tran, to make a deal. Although, it is generally believed that PTM has acted in good faith, the Council instructed PTM to meet its obligation to negotiate in good faith with the Teamsters.
“Hiring replacement workers has only incensed the situation,” Council Member Regina Romero said.
An audience of Teamsters applauded the directions, which were approved by the council in a 6-1 vote. Only Council Member Steve Kozachik voted against the directions to stop hiring replacements.
The Sun Tran management structure is complicated, City Attorney Mike Rankin told the council.
The city owns the bus system, but it can’t employ Sun Tran employees because a condition of federal funding for the system says employees must have collective bargaining rights, including the right to strike, which is prohibited under the City charter.
So to comply with its own rules and still be eligible for the federal money, the City contracts management services with PTM.
Council Member Karin Uhlich said the only way PTM can meet its contractual obligations is to resolve the strike. Uhlich went so far as to say that once the City gets past the strike. Uhlich said, the city should establish a transit authority “so we never find ourselves in this position again.”