By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
A local transit union gathered at St. Joseph City Hall to picket as contract negotiations with St. Joseph transit are ongoing.
St. Joseph Transit Facilities Manager Scott Butcher says currently contract negotiations are at a standstill between the Local 847 Union and St. Joseph Transit.
Butcher says after the contract with the union expired at the end of June last year negotiations began again.
"And then the union decided to not extend the contracts, which ultimately gave them the right to strike," Butcher tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. "There are those things since they did not extend that union contract that are beneficial to them that change the dynamic between how the company does things and how the union does things."
Butcher says the latest development in negotiations was members of the union bringing forward a list of demands, including wages across the nation for transit drivers.
"So, what I would look for going forward now that the company had given last, best and final, even though there's been some discussions since, is they would bring that list to us and say hey here's this information, here's what these people make, this is why we want this," Butcher says. "So, then we can look at it and really evaluate it."
Butcher says currently what is holding up negotiations is members of the union asking for higher wages.
Butcher says if there were to be a strike from the union, St. Joseph Transit has an emergency contingency plan.