Teamsters Local Union 104’s Unfair Labor Practice strike against Sun Tran is now nearing the end of its eighth day with the striking employees and their supporters continuing to walk the picket lines at the Ronstadt Transit Center in downtown Tucson, as well as the north and south facilities.

The 530 striking Sun Tran employees and Teamsters Local Union 104 are sympathetic to the ongoing struggle that Tucson area residents continue to face with each day the strike continues. The resolution of this strike does not draw nearer with continued accusations of unreasonableness or finger pointing in the media. However, the resolution of this strike can begin to draw nearer when both sides commit to return to the table and resume meaningful discussions about reaching an agreement that the striking employees, the Union, and the Company can live with.

The 530 striking employees of Sun Tran and the Teamsters have taken that very step earlier today by contacting the mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services and presenting him with a comprehensive proposal addressing all open items, including both economic and non-economic issues, with the instructions that he present that entire proposal to the Company immediately. We call upon Sun Tran management to return to the negotiating table and engage in good faith settlement talks with the assistance of the Federal Mediator and join the Teamsters in attempting to reach a fair and equitable settlement of this strike that addresses not only the outstanding economic issues, but the safety and health issues affecting both the striking employees and the passengers of Sun Tran.

The cost of this new comprehensive proposal totals between $5.7 million and $7.7 million dollars, depending on how the wage progression freeze is resolved. Adding together the Company’s stated economic offer of $2.7 million, plus the $2.2 million that was already budgeted and approved for wages and fringe benefits for these employees in 2013 and 2014, but was returned to the City’s general fund, and adding the approximately $1 million in wages, pension, health & welfare, fuel savings, and other operating expenses that the City will have saved by running a limited bus service during the strike to this point, Sun Tran already has $5.9 million that is available to use in reaching a fair and equitable settlement of this strike that all parties can accept.

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