A strike by Fairfax County commuter bus drivers that slowed bus service Monday was poised to continue into today as the drivers union and the county’s contractor failed to reach a contract agreement.
Fairfax Connector bus service in the south half of the county, which runs every 15 minutes or half-hour, depending on location and time of day, was operating hourly Monday with 22 buses in service.
The service usually operates with 74 buses on weekdays. About 160 of the 174 bus operators who belong to American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union Local 3001 participated in the strike Monday, union attorney Charles D. Smith said.
Ten bus drivers crossed the picket line and 12 nonunion bus supervisors climbed behind the wheel to get the 22 buses on the road, according to Mike Ake, area vice president for the county’s contracted bus operator, Veolia Transportation Inc.
The three-year contract between the company and the union expired at midnight Sunday.
Veolia offered the drivers and mechanics higher wages but a less attractive health plan in the new contract, Smith said.
The union also is pressing for the addition of a pension plan, he said.
“That’s what the government workers have, that’s what the Metro drivers have, so why not the Fairfax County Connector drivers?” Smith said.
Ake said negotiations are continuing with the help of a federal mediator.
“We have offered them a very fair and competitive wage and benefits package, and they’ve refused our offer,” Ake said, declining to discuss the specifics of the offer.
“We’ve been in contact with the federal mediator and made sure that the union knows that we’re ready, willing and able to sit down as soon as they’re ready, but they haven’t asked for a si- down yet,” he said.
Smith said he was unwilling to sit down with Ake until there was a new offer. Fairfax Connector bus service is scheduled to continue to operate on a limited Sunday schedule until a deal is reached.
Normal service was operating in the north half of the county as that bus operations center has a different union, county officials said.
