COTA, Union Workers Reach Tentative Agreement; Union To Continue Monday Strike

COTA workers officially began their strike at 3 a.m. Monday morning.

COTA representatives and union workers said that strike could end by Tuesday morning, because the two parties reached a tentative agreement about equal wages early Monday morning, 10TV’s Jessa Goddard reported.

According to a COTA release, because of the strike, there is no fixed-route bus service on Monday. Paratransit services, including Mainstream, Will Call and non-ASA trips, will not be affected by the strike.

The two sides worked for hours on Sunday into early Monday on an agreement that would end the strike for Tuesday.

The terms of the tentative agreement include a 7-percent wage increase over a three-year contract period and a 2-percent reduction in the amount COTA has been contributing to employees’ Public Employees Retirement System accounts, according to COTA.

Charles Preece said that he had no choice but to walk from West Broad Street to downtown.

“I have a lot of errands to run and with this heat out here, I’m just praying to God that I don’t have a heart attack from just the heat,” Preece said.

Preece, and thousands others, were forced to find alternative transportation because of Monday’s COTA strike.

“This is sad,” Preece said. “I don’t know why they can’t come to terms and come to some type of agreement for this – this just isn’t fair to the community.”

Union representatives scheduled a meeting for Monday evening to vote on the tentative agreement that would send union workers back to work early Tuesday morning, Goddard reported.

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