The Los Angeles bus system is the second largest in the country. An estimated 450,000 people in Los Angeles County use the system to commute daily. Support from other workers was strong and spirits ran high at picket lines around the metropolitan area on Monday, September 18, the first weekday of the strike. During rush hour, packed lanes of motorists leaned on their horns, answering picket signs that had been altered from "ON Strike" to "hONk Strike." The noise in parts of downtown Los Angeles was deafening. The drivers are striking to defend the eight-hour day and their right to overtime pay.

MTA-proposed changes in work rules and schedules would impose a four-day workweek of 12-15 hours a day on many drivers. This is one of the key issues the drivers have refused to submit to.

"They want us to work five hours, then take a three-to-five hour split an unpaid off-the-clock period in the workday] after rush hour, then work five more hours in the evening," said Robert Rodriguez, a bus driver for five years. "That's totally unacceptable. It's a schedule that those on the extra board do now."

Rodriguez described how many drivers sleep in their cars during their splits because they don't have enough time to go home and take a nap before they are required to be on duty again.

"I added it up, and that schedule would mean about a 25 percent cut in pay for me," said bus driver Domingo Aguilar. "They want to cut out overtime pay with this kind of schedule. You have to be available for hours you aren't paid for. It's not an 8-10 hour day. It's a 12-15 hour day. I would have to work the same hours for less pay."

"California has a law that workers get overtime after eight hours," said Willie Fulwyali, a shop steward who works out of MTA Division 2 in downtown Los Angeles. "We have to fight to keep it that way."

The MTA is also proposing to cut hourly pay for drivers in half during periods when they must wait for repairs to buses that break down en route, or during "deadhead" time--the time while driving an empty bus to the beginning of a route to begin service on a bus line. Currently the drivers are paid their full wages for deadhead time; one strike demand is that this remain the case.

"They claim we're making $80,000 a year", said Don, a 52-year-old bus driver, responding to stories in the Los Angeles Times that the "middle-class drivers" make that level of income. "That's not true. I've been a driver for 26 years. I work a five-day week, 13 hours a day, and I've never made that much. I have a family to support. The MTA doesn't care about the drivers and they don't care about the public, either."  
 
Move to sell off bus lines
Another issue in the strike is the union's objection to the proposal by the MTA and Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan to contract out more of the public bus lines, selling them to private companies. The current proposal is to sell the bus lines in the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys in the county.

"This will put about 1,200 MTA drivers, mechanics, and others out of work, because they would fire us or lay us off and hire others and give them less pay and no benefits in order to save money," said Eddie Lopez, a bus driver who is also the secretary of the union committee of the United Transportation Union (UTU) in Sun Valley's Local 1565.

UTU drivers on strike are also fighting the company's attempt to cut pension benefits, curtail the vision and dental provisions in their current medical benefits plan, and increase the percentage of part-time workers.

There are currently three tiers of drivers employed by the MTA. Part-time workers receive lower wages and an inferior medical plan, compared to full-time drivers. Part-timers are not allowed to work a full 40 hours each week. Another category of workers are called BDOF (Business District Operational Finance) employees. This tier is below that of part-time, with no medical benefits at all. Some drivers report that they have been working as BDOF or part-time employees for as long as three to four years. When they become full-time workers, seniority is only counted from the first day of full-time employment.

Other strikers nodded in agreement when Shantell Malone, a driver for two years, said, "We're hardworking people and we want to keep what we've earned. I have a 13-year-old son to support. But this is not even about money. We want to keep our benefits."

"I support the drivers because the MTA is doing them unfairly," Stacy, a regular bus rider, told the Militant, explaining why she decided to join the picket line one afternoon. Drivers described other supporters who dropped off water and donuts to pickets in solidarity with the strike.

"When we first talked about striking I thought: What am I going to do?" said Gracie Ayala, a driver. "Now I know. I am going to fight."

Nicole Burris, 29, who has been driving an MTA bus for one year, said other working people in Los Angeles have a stake in supporting the strike "because this is about protecting the rights of all of us. We're fighting for a cause and we should expect other people to support us like we would them."

Elizabeth Lariscy contributed to this article.