Today, SMART General Committee 875 General Chairman Marco Gudino and 1563 Local Chairman Robert Gonzalez, accompanied by legal counsel, conducted their first negotiation session with the LACMTA over the transfer of Bus Lines 190 and 194 to Foothill Transit.

In the May 6th article titled “General Committee 875 Continues the Fight for Lines 190 & 194” it was reported that there was confusion over whether the MTA Board had officially voted to transfer the lines. The “Receive and File” report on all public testimony for the June 2016 Services Changes was presented to the MTA Board at the Regular Board Meeting held on April 28. The report included the recommendation from the San Gabriel Valley Service Council to transfer Lines 190 and 194 to Foothill Transit. By simply receiving the report, the MTA Board accepted the recommendation along with all the others listed.

A letter dated May 4, 2016 was sent from General Chairman Marco Gudino to the MTA requesting formal negotiations as outlined in Article 51 of the contract. A generous number of dates was given by General Chairman Gudino to the MTA in order to negotiate the matter before the June “Shake Up.” May 24 and May 25 were the only dates agreed to by the MTA. The MTA also cancelled 2 previously scheduled bargaining dates on May 19 and May 20.

In today's session, General Chairman Gudino expressed his frustration to the MTA negotiations team for the lack of days the MTA is willing to make available. Chairman Gudino also expressed his displeasure to the MTA for their slow response to the information requests because of the limited number of days left to negotiate before the beginning of the June “Shake Up” bidding process. Without complete and timely information and an adequate number of dates to meet, the ability to fully negotiate in good faith is eroded.

Much like contract negotiations, no decisions or discussions are binding until there is a signed agreement by the two parties. In order to protect the negotiation process, no details of the meetings will be shared until there is an agreement.

Keep up to date on the negotiations and all General Committee 875 news at gca875smart.org/news.