Bus drivers, IT reach tentative contract deal. So why did the union picket?
Union and Intercity Transit officials on Wednesday announced a tentative agreement on a new three-year labor contract between the bus service provider and the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1765.
The union represents more than 300 employees who work as bus drivers, customer service representatives and dispatch specialists for IT’s Dial-a-Lift service.
Union negotiator Michael Cornelius posted on Facebook: “This will be a historic contract for this local.”
The tentative agreement was reached on Tuesday, said IT General Manager Emily Bergkamp prior to Wednesday’s gathering of the authority, IT’s governing board.
“We had a very successful session, and the mediator was very helpful,” she said. “The mediator helped us really get past some of the issues we had in wages in the second and third year (of the contract), and just got us to a point where now the union can review all the changes made to the contract, make sure it matches our shared understanding of what we’ve agreed to, and then take that to their members for a vote.”
That vote is expected to take place in the coming weeks. After that, it will come before the authority for approval, she said.
The last labor contract expired in December, although negotiations began before then. But as those negotiations dragged on, union members — sometimes dozens of members — took advantage of public comment at authority meetings to express their displeasure about the pace of the negotiations, or the offers and counter-offers from IT, or how meaningful a wage increase would be.
The wage details contained in the tentative agreement were shared with The Olympian once they had been made public at the authority meeting.
Union members in the first year, which is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2025, will receive a 7% general wage increase, plus a 3.3% market adjustment for customer service representatives only.
In the second year, effective Jan. 1, 2026, they are set to receive a 3.75% general wage increase, which could be raised to 4%, depending on changes to the consumer price index (CPI) for the Olympia-Tumwater area over a certain period of time.
In the third year, effective Jan. 1, 2027, they are set to receive a 3.5% general wage increase, which also could be as much as 4%, based on changes to the CPI for the area over a certain period of time.
As a point of reference, a new bus driver would start at about $26 per hour, Bergkamp said.
Union pickets IT
Meanwhile, about 30 rank-and-file union members picketed outside the authority meeting for about an hour on Wednesday.
They chanted, sang songs and marched along the Intercity Transit building.
“When we fight, we win!” they shouted.
Bus driver Adam Shea was among them.
“This is an informational picket for the purpose of truthfully informing the public of a dispute with our employer,” he said. “Our dispute is that they have unfairly terminated two of our bargaining committee members without establishing just cause. We reject the legitimacy of those firings.”
Negotiator Cornelius also mentioned the situation in his Facebook post.
“Don’t forget there are still unfair labor practices for wrongfully terminating several bargaining team members for retaliation,” he said. “We must stand with them now as they have been fighting for you.”
General Manager Bergkamp declined to comment, saying personnel matters are confidential.
This story was originally published April 17, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
