MTA approves contract for Muni drivers

SAN FRANCISCO -- A contract for San Francisco Municipal Railway vehicle operators was unanimously approved by the city's Municipal Transportation Agency this afternoon, agency officials said.

The contract agreement was reached late last month after lengthy and contested negotiations that included a "sickout" staged by Muni workers during which about half of Muni drivers did not show up for work for three days.

A deal was finally brokered with the assistance of former Mayor Willie Brown, who stepped in at the request of Mayor Ed Lee. The agreement gives workers a roughly 15 percent raise over three years but has them paying progressively more for their pensions.

The Transport Workers Union Local 250-A ratified the agreement earlier this month by a vote of 634-485, making the SFMTA vote the final step to implement the three-year contract.