VTA workers injured in traffic incident on 1st day of strike that shut down bus, light rail service

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- At the stroke of midnight, the first ever strike for ATU Local 265 employees who work for the Valley Transportation Authority officially began.

With 1,500 employees now on the picket line, that means there's no light rail or bus service.

Workers on strike include bus and light rail operators, maintenance staff, dispatchers, fare inspectors, and customer service representatives.

The Union claims VTA has failed to address things like fair wages, benefits and grievance procedures. They also say VTA has failed to improve workplace conditions since the 2021 mass shooting at a VTA railyard, which killed nine people.

A reminder played over the loud speakers at VTA light rail stations Monday reminding passengers, but there were no riders there to hear it.

Once busy stops, sat empty, while busses and light rails sat parked.

ATU Local 265 workers who normally operate them were on their first official day of strike.

"It's kind of disappointing that it's gotten to this point," ATU Local 265 President Raj Singh told ABC7's Dustin Dorsey. "We went into negotiations 6 months ago."

Six months later, a stalemate remains between union workers and VTA left employees on the picket lines.

Early Monday morning, the picketing became dangerous, as video shows two men hit by a marked VTA truck.

"A person came around the block speeding," Singh said. "And when people tried to say, 'what are you doing? Slow down!' Apparently he swerved into them and hit two or three people. "

One demonstrator was sent to the hospital, another suffered minor injuries as San Jose Police began an investigation.

As this was all going on, an estimated 100,000 daily riders were without bus or light rail service.

This included San Jose State students who rely on it to get anywhere around town.

"It's really does help because it's the main form of transportation that I use to get to school," SJSU Freshman Divjeev Sohi said.

Students and others will be forced to drive while a deal gets worked out.

VTA is offering the union a 9.3% increase over the next three years, while the ATU workers are demanding a 19.1% increase over three years.

ATU is asking for more, including special protections for arbitration guarantees.

VTA says the union has not shown willingness to move on their demands.

"The kind of wage increases that ATU is asking for is just not possible in a way that we can maintain the service that we're offering our passengers that they need," VTA Public Information Officer Stacey Hendler Ross said. "We would have to make service cuts and possibly job cuts."

Both sides are hoping it doesn't get to that point.

There were also some rumblings at the picket line about outside workers coming in to get transportation services going again.

VTA says that's not in the plans yet, they just want a deal to get done with their workers.

VTA paratransit is not being impacted by the strike.