Several bus routes throughout Orange County could be disrupted starting Tuesday morning, Feb. 15,  if hundreds of Orange County Transportation Authority bus drivers decide to go through with a threatened strike.

The drivers, who are members of the Teamsters Local 952, voted last month to allow a walkout, and gave notice last week they would strike if negotiations expected to continue this weekend are not successful on a new contract.

The work stoppage would begin at midnight Tuesday. Both parties have said they hope to come to an agreement before then, acknowledging the impact a strike would have on residents. The groups were expected to meet Saturday and have another session scheduled Monday in hopes of reaching a resolution.

At a stop at Glassell Street and Katella Avenue in Orange on Friday morning, Michael Ross waited for the OC Bus that drives Route 50 to take him one stop away to the Walmart at the Village at Orange. He said he uses the bus every day, mainly to go to the supermarket or to CVS to pick up medication.

Public transit “is very important to me,” he said.

If the bus doesn’t come Tuesday, he said he’d walk to the store with his wheelchair, “take my time and leave early.”

“I’d leave about 6:30 in the morning while it’s cool, because I can’t take the heat.”

Michelle Salazar, who waited at the stop with her grandmother, said she would be concerned about getting to work. She takes the 50 bus daily to work at the Garden Grove Hospital and Medical Center, she said.

If OCTA and the union representing its bus drivers can’t reach an agreement before Tuesday, here is some things to know in the event of a strike:

Impacted routes

A work stoppage would impact 20 OC Bus routes around Orange County, which carry roughly 75% of the agency’s ridership.

Another 32 routes that are serviced by a contracted company wouldn’t be interrupted, and OC Access for people with disabilities, OC Flex, Metrolink and Amtrak would continue operating as normal.

If OCTA and the union representing its bus drivers can’t reach a contract agreement by Tuesday, the coach operators plan to strike. Twenty bus routes would be impacted in a work stoppage, while another 32, which are driven by contracted drivers, would continue. Here is a map of the bus routes that would continue operating as normal in the event of a strike.

OCTA spokesman Joel Zlotnik said people who need to use public transit could still hop on those buses if they are able to get to the stops.

Other options for riders would be to hail a ride-share service such as Uber, Lyft or a taxi.

For people who may have purchased a bus pass, but are not able to use it because of a strike, fares would be refunded for the days services were unavailable, Zlotnik said.

Here is a list of the routes that would be impacted if bus drivers strike:

1-Long Beach – San Clemente
29-La Habra – Huntington Beach
37-La Habra – Fountain Valley
43-Fullerton – Costa Mesa
47-Fullerton – Newport Beach
50-Long Beach – Orange
53-Orange – Irvine
54-Garden Grove – Orange
55-Santa Ana – Newport Beach
56-Garden Grove – Orange
57-Brea – Newport Beach
60-Long Beach – Tustin
64-Huntington Beach – Tustin
66-Huntington Beach – Irvine
72-Sunset Beach – Tustin
76-Huntington Beach – Newport Beach
83-Anaheim – Laguna Hills
543-Fullerton – Costa Mesa – Bravo!
560-Santa Ana to Long Beach – Bravo!
862-Downtown Santa Ana Shuttle

Before a strike

Union and OCTA officials planned meetings before Tuesday to continue trying to reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement for coach operators. The groups brought in a mediator this weekend to act as a third party in the negotiations.

Talks between the groups have been ongoing for more than a year, since the existing contract for the Teamsters 952 bargaining unit, which represents about 600 OCTA drivers, expired in April.

OCTA on Thursday appealed to Gov. Gavin Newsom to step in and prevent a work stoppage before it could begin.

The governor, if he believes a strike will “significantly disrupt public transportation services and endanger the public’s health, safety or welfare,” can formulate a board to investigate the dispute, and prevent a strike for up to seven days while the committee prepares a report for him. After that, Newsom could request that the state attorney general obtain a court order that halts a work stoppage for another 60 days.

Zlotnik said Friday the OCTA hadn’t received a response from Newsom.

Talks stalled

After several months of negotiations and two contract proposals that were turned down, the bus drivers in January voted to authorize a strike. Issues that have hung up a resolution for the parties include wages and break time for drivers.

Eric Jimenez, secretary-treasurer for the Teamsters 952, has said the drivers “can’t afford to live in Orange County” under current salaries, and many commute from the Inland Empire to work each day.

Union members, who overwhelmingly rejected previous contract proposals in September and January, also “will not agree to a contract that does not address the basic human needs issues,” like being allotted time for a meal break during the workday, he said.

While union members are “very mindful of the disruption that striking would cause to the residents of Orange County,” Jimenez said that, “we trust, though, that the bus ridership understands it has an obligation to make sure that the bus operators it represents are paid a fair decent living as well as provided with the opportunity to engage in the basic human functions of eating and other human needs.”

OCTA CEO Darrell Johnson has said in a statement that the agency “has exceptional coach operators and we have provided them with a very generous offer that compensates them for the essential work they perform.

“All of us at OCTA realize the hardship a strike would cause for the thousands of riders who depend on the bus every day and we are doing our best to reach a successful resolution.”

The groups have met about 40 times after the past year to try to reach agreement.

Watch octa.net for updated on the potential for bus service interruption and to check potential alternate bus routes available.

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