Traverse City Record-Eagle

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March 30, 2010

BATA, Teamsters sign contract

Employees' last contract expired in December

BY ART BUKOWSKI

TRAVERSE CITY -- The area's largest public transit authority reached a "groundbreaking" deal with its employees, capping months of often contentious negotiations.

The Bay Area Transportation Authority on Sunday finalized contracts with about 75 employees who belong to Teamsters State, County and Municipal Workers Local 214, including drivers, mechanics and dispatchers.

"It's good to have it resolved in such a way that it's a win-win for everybody," BATA Executive Director Tom Menzel said.

"It's always good to bring things to a conclusion," union business agent Sheryl Langdon said. "We think it was a satisfactory conclusion."

Employees worked without a contract since December, when the previous contract expired.

The new contract includes an immediate 2.21 percent employee raise and a clause that states further compensation will be determined by BATA's revenue. The previous contract included a guaranteed 3 percent annual pay hike.

"What we have is an agreement that basically says we will determine what our federal and state revenue sharing is and our millage, and we'll know, based on how much revenues are coming in, what we have to work with," Menzel said.

But employees will have oversight of future budgets to prevent unwelcome modifications, Langdon said.

"He can't just have a whole lot of expenditures for the sole purpose of causing (employees) to have less money," she said.

The deal also includes a provision in which the losing side of any labor dispute will have to pay arbitration costs. Such costs previously were split between BATA and the union.

"It makes sure my human resources people are implementing the contract properly, and it makes the union think twice before they take frivolous things into court," Menzel said.

Langdon contends the union checks all disputes for validity and doesn't file frivolous complaints.

Holiday and vacation time no longer count toward an employee's weekly overtime under the new contact. BATA previously allowed employees to receive overtime pay in a 40-hour workweek if vacation or holiday time was included.

"We're making sure we only pay for performance," Menzel said.

Menzel, who took over BATA's helm in May after a stint as executive director of the National Cherry Festival, plans to focus on other things in the wake of contract negotiations.

"Quite frankly, it put me about six to eight months behind in dealing with other operational changes I wanted to make because I spent so much time on it," Menzel said.

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