AC Transit Strike Averted

AC Transit management reached a deal with workers last night to avoid a threatened strike that would have affected bus service in Alameda and throughout the county.

The agreement with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 192 (ATU), which represents the agency’s 1,625 bus operators and mechanics, provides a 9.5 percent wage hike to be phased in over three years.

Additionally, workers will have to make monthly contributions of $70, $140 and $180, respectively, for each of the three years of the contract, to their health benefits.

The union had previously threatened to walk out as of this morning, impacting some 181,000 daily riders.

The contract agreement will now be presented to the full union membership for ratification.