LOWER LAKE — Paratransit Services personnel confirmed Thursday that they are hiring new permanent employees to replace workers who are currently on strike.
About 25 Paratransit Services employees and Teamsters continued their indefinite strike Thursday in front of the Lake Transit offices on Highway 53 in Lower Lake. The strike began on Monday and has forced Lake Transit to reduce its services.
Routes one, four, five and six will run Monday through Friday with reduced hours, Paratransit Services represented Randy Grove stated.
Paratransit Services, which provides transportation services for Lake Transit, has hired and will continue to hire new employees in an attempt to bring services back to normal, Executive Vice President of Paratransit Services Christie Scheffer said.
Negotiations between the Teamsters and Paratransit Services have been in the works since January, but have not materialized in a new contract. The latest contract was in place for three years before it expired, but the two sides have not agreed on wage increases that would be included in a new one.
Paratransit Services employees currently on strike are not fired, Scheffer said, but when the strike is over employees will be hired back based on seniority and the rest will be put on a priority list for when new hires are required.
Teamster Local Union No. 665 President Ralph A. Miranda said the strike will continue in spite of new hires.
“We don”t think they can hire enough,” Miranda said.
The Teamsters are open to negotiations, Miranda said, but their latest attempt to negotiate went unanswered.
Failed negotiations happened on July 17, when the main disagreement revolved around 10-step increases that would grant employees yearly raises for 10 years. The Teamsters demanded the step increases to be reinstated after they were forfeited by the workers in the last contract to protect the company from a bad economic climate and minimize staff cuts. Paratransit Services negotiators have not agreed to include the 10-step increases in the new contract.
In addition to the step increases, Paratransit Services employees would receive a cost of living wage increase, which Paratransit Services personnel insist should be at 2.2 percent and the Teamsters want at 2.4 percent.
Though Paratransit Services has begun its hiring process, services are not expected to be back to normal until about early September, when hiring and training is completed, Scheffer said.
“It”s our desire to restore service as quickly as we can,” she said.
The Teamsters are scheduled to address the media today at noon to call on Lake Transit Authority to enforce a performance clause on Paratransit Services, Miranda stated in a press release Thursday.
“It has become crystal clear that Lake Transit buses will not be operating in full capacity for weeks, if not months, if this strike continues,” Miranda stated.
Isaac Brambila is a staff reporter for Lake County Publishing. Reach him at 263-5636 ext. 37 or at ibrambila@record-bee.com.
