CHULA VISTA, Calif. — Some MTS bus drivers walked off the job Wednesday morning leaving seniors and people living with disabilities without access to public transit.
“It’s terrible, terrible I don’t know what I’m going to do. Maybe I have to go back to Tijuana,” said Manuel Baldez, 71.
Baldez uses minibuses and other public transportation to get around San Diego. He lives in Tijuana and spoke to ABC 10News at the trolley station in Chula Vista Wednesday.
Dozens of bus drivers joined an extended picket line in Chula Vista to support Imperial County drivers who walked off the job Tuesday. They are demanding higher pay and better working conditions from their employer Transdev, a contractor that operates some buses for MTS under the name First Transit.
“They have no intentions of you know coming to a remedy, to a recommendable contract, that’s why we are here,” Jose Pugh, a union rep with Teamsters 683 told 10 News reporter Natay Holmes.
The drivers who didn’t show up to work in San Diego County operate paratransit buses and some regular buses as well, according to Teamsters Local 542, the union representing the workers.
Union secretary treasurer Jaime Vasquez told ABC 10’s Austin Grabish that a ‘significant; number of drivers skipped work.
The San Diego bus drivers’ contract expired on March 31st, but their action wasn’t an official strike, Vasquez said.
He said there was a strong possibility more drivers wouldn’t work on Thursday.
But service is not out completely. ABC 10News saw multiple minibuses still in operation at the Grantville Trolley Station Wednesday afternoon.
Vasquez said drivers who haven’t passed their probation can’t skip work because they may lose their jobs. And drivers who take part in the job action won’t be paid so not everyone is missing work.
MTS apologized for the inconvenience on its website. Regular trolley service remains uninterrupted.
