DENVER (AP) -- Union leaders planned to meet with members to discuss details of a tentative contract agreement that could settle a transit strike entering its fourth day.þþThe tentative agreement was reached with the city's transit agency Wednesday and union members said they would continue the walkout at least until they vote on the offer Friday, mediator Christel Jorgensen said.þþDetails of the proposed contract would not be announced until after the vote, Jorgensen said. If approved, normal transit service would begin Monday.þþ''Our members have the right to hear about this offer from our officers ... and then to make up their own mind,'' union president Yvette Salazar said.þþNearly 1,750 bus drivers, light-rail operators and mechanics walked off the job early Monday in the city's first transit strike in 24 years. Only limited bus service has continued on a system that averaged 275,000 rides a day.þþMany workers were upset at the Regional Transportation District's wage-and-benefits offer after managers were given raises from 38 percent to 48 percent. Union pay has been frozen since 2003.þþTransit agency spokesman Scott Reed said the talks were ''very positive.''þþ''The federal mediator was a big help, and she has been part of this process for the past several weeks,'' he said.þþFifty-five percent of workers who voted rejected the last contract offer, which union leaders had recommended they accept, triggering the strike. It included a wage hike of $1.80 an hour over three years in 15-cent raises every quarter, plus increases in health benefits.þþThe striking workers said they are feeling the financial pinch, cutting back on purchases and watching how far they drive because of rising fuel costs.þþSandra Almanza, a 34-year-old part-time bus driver, said she has told her 7-year-old daughter they could not visit McDonald's or go to see a movie.þþ''I'm OK now because I was paying stuff in advance,'' she said.þþThe transit authority runs bus and light-rail systems in Denver and all or parts of seven surrounding counties, a service area with about 2.5 million residents. This week, the agency has operated about 45 percent of its bus routes by using private contractors.þþ
Source: NY Times
