Pacific Transit System’s labor negotiation stalemate is headed to mediation by a state agency, the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC), beginning Oct. 22.
PERC cannot impose a deal on the parties it mediates for. It seeks to gain an understanding of each party’s position, and use that knowledge to figure out a mutually acceptable deal.
Pacific Transit’s contract with its drivers, who are part of the Amalgamated Transit Union, expired at the end of last year, and the parties have failed to reach a new agreement. The two sides jointly decided to seek mediation.
Pacific Transit Manager Richard Evans said mediation has helped Pacific Transit and Amalgamated Transit Union in the past.
“It worked the last time we had to do it,” he said. “[Mediation] gets an independent voice to get the parties together. A lot of times the mediators are more aware than the parties of what the comparables are, so they can use other contracts as a guide.”
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