SAN DIEGO — MTS Board of Directors held a special meeting Thursday after weeks of negotiations. The Board voted 8-6 to set a deadline for MTS contractor Transdev to end the labor dispute by June 23.
It also gives Transdev, the third-party staffing agency, $1 million to bring to the bargaining table.
For instance, it could be used as a ratification bonus, or money could be used to try and solve some of the other issues drivers are fighting like bathrooms.
The board already gave Transdev a $21 million contract raise in January to give drivers a $2 an hour raise.
Union members opposed the deadline and said that the million wasn’t nearly enough.
They instead want MTS to cancel the contract and take the drivers in house as full time MTS drivers.
Hundreds of bus drivers who work for MTS contractor Transdev, many of them in the South Bay, rejected the company's "last, best and final offer" earlier this month.
"It's very frustrating, very frustrating," said Paratransit bus driver Steve Flores. "We all have families, we all have bills."
Flores said he realizes this weeks-long strike is not only taking a toll on workers like himself, but also the passengers they serve: especially disabled riders who often rely on this bus service.
"It is hard for us and it is hard for them," he told CBS 8, "because we want to be out there servicing them obviously."
Drivers overwhelmingly rejected Transdev's latest offer earlier this month, saying that it is "not different" from their earlier offer in late April.
"We're not asking for the world," said Matthew Snyder, business agent for Teamster Local 542. "We're asking for what's fair!"
The biggest sticking points according to the drivers include, access to clean restroom facilities, forced overtime, and unpaid hours-long breaks in the middle of extended shifts.
"Imagine showing up to work and you're here for 15 hours and you get paid maybe for seven...happens every day," said Snyder.
Transdev said in a statement they are "disappointed" with the driver's rejection vote, reiterating that "Transdev was sincere when it provided the Union its Last, Best and Final proposal on May 31, 2023," and that its current proposal remains unchanged.
It added that "if at any point the Union decides to vote on the existing offer again, Transdev remains happy to receive a positive outcome and end the strike."
"They are not here for the community. They are here for the money!" said Jose Puga, business agent for Teamsters Local 683, which started striking on May 16.
Last month, city council member Stephen Whitburn, who is the chair of MTS, called for an end to this lingering strike, which is impacting almost all bus routes in the South Bay.
"We call upon Transdev to get the buses and the access paratransit service back on the road now," Whitburn said.
The transit agent has the right to void Transdev's contract for non-compliance after first issuing a ten-day notice.
Puga said that these union members are looking for MTS to take decisive action.
"If they don't take action, we will remember them - especially when their elections come up," he added.
WATCH RELATED: MTS Chair calls for immediate end of work stoppage (May 26, 2023)