'We're down to wages': Gold Coast Transit District supervisors strike

Supervisors at Gold Coast Transit District are on strike for higher wages after their contract expired on Saturday.

As of noon Monday, Teamsters Local 186, which represents the 17 workers, and the transit district were still negotiating a new memorandum of understanding. The agency picks up riders in Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Camarillo, Ventura, Ojai and unincorporated areas of the county.

“Wages. We’re down to wages,” union representative Jedediah Johnson said by phone Monday.

Gold Coast Transit General Manager Vanessa Rauschenberger said bus routes and schedules were not affected by the strike.

The current negotiations will serve as the supervisors’ second contract with the transit district. The first contract took effect January 2018. Prior to that, the supervisors were unrepresented, Johnson said.

The supervisors earn between approximately $57,400 and $85,400 with the average salary at about $76,000, Rauschenberger said.

All but one of the supervisors were promoted from within the agency and were previously bus drivers and mechanics, she said.

Maintenance supervisor Victor Rubio said a raise is well earned. He said he and many of his colleagues helped the transit district through the pandemic. They rarely called out sick. If they contracted COVID-19, they'd work from home, he said.

“We’re not asking to be the highest paid anywhere around,” Rubio said. “We want something that’s fair.”

The current strike is the first in the transit district's 50-year history.

It comes at a time when thousands of hotel employees in Los Angeles and Orange counties are picketing for higher pay and better benefits. The cooks, room attendants, dishwashers, servers, bellmen and front desk agents are members of the Unite Here Local 11.

Gold Coast Transit has over 200 employees, most of whom, including bus drivers, are represented by Service Employees International Union Local 721.

Brian J. Varela covers Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Camarillo. He can be reached at brian.varela@vcstar.com or 805-477-8014. You can also find him on Twitter @BrianVarela805.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Gold Coast Transit supervisors strike for higher pay