Tuesday September 4, 2001

Walkout may affect an estimated 3,000 UA students, staff

About 3,000 UA students and employees will have to find alternate ways to get to and from campus beginning as early as today, unless Sun Tran employees and managers reach an agreement to avoid an impending bus strike.

Sun Tran drivers and mechanics could decide to strike tonight after their meeting with union representatives of Teamsters Local 104 in response to conflicts with ongoing contract negotiations.

If there is a strike, Sun Tran will keep three bus lines running on a Sunday schedule: Speedway Boulevard's Route 4, Broadway Boulevard and South Sixth Avenue's Route 8, and Oracle Road and Twelfth Avenue's Route 16.

Sun Tran officials said these three routes - where buses will operate every half hour between 6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. - serve nearly 40 percent of Sun Tran's passengers.

"A strike has terrible effects on everyone, but the community stands to lose the most - people depend on Sun Tran for transportation," stated George Caria, Sun Tran's general manager, in a press release. "With service operating on three of our major corridors, at least many people will still be able to get to work."

"The last strike (in 1997) went six and a half days, but the important difference is that there was no bus operation last time," said Terry Garcia Crews, a Sun Tran assistant general manager.

Sun Tran would also seek replacement workers and open up additional routes as resources become available.

The previous pact expired Friday at midnight, and union representatives have rejected Sun Tran's offer of a three-year, $3.6 million package. Garcia Crews said no funds are available in addition to the $3.6 million offered.

"I don't see the point of a strike," said Sarah Splitek, a University of Arizona physics graduate student. "From what I've read, there's no money in the budget to give a bigger raise."

Splitek said she lives too far away from friends to carpool and that she would like to avoid paying $30 per week to park her car in a garage.

"Besides, I've already paid $70 for a bus pass," Splitek said.

According to statistics compiled by UA Parking and Transportation Services, 2,865 students and employees purchased the U-Pass last year. The U-Pass offers people affiliated with the UA an approximately 50 percent discount in bus fares over the course of a semester, or academic or calendar year.

Veronica Furlong, an art history graduate student, said she would probably get friends to drive her to school in the event of a strike.

"A strike is understandable," Furlong said. "Drivers have to put up a lot more with complaints since the new bus schedule (went into effect). I almost never get a seat, and sometimes people get passed over because the bus is full."

The latest bus schedule went into effect Aug. 19. Parts of certain routes were eliminated or streamlined while frequency of visits were reduced in some instances, as with Furlong's Route 9 along Grant Road.

Garcia Crews said Sun Tran has not received a high volume of complaints concerning the bus schedule.

For updated information on contract negotiations and bus schedules or tips for alternative modes of transportation, access Sun Tran's website at www.suntran.com or call (520) 792-9222.