Phoenix bus drivers back on the road after strike
Mar 17, 2012, 12:37 AM
PHOENIX (AP) – Buses in Phoenix are back on a full schedule for the first time since drivers walked out in a labor dispute last week.
More than 600 drivers with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1433 overwhelmingly approved a new contract with Veolia Transportation Services on Thursday. They were back behind the wheel Friday morning.
Another 310 striking drivers in nearby Tempe approved their new contract Friday afternoon and may be back to work Saturday morning.
The strike crippled bus service in metropolitan Phoenix.
Fifty of the 101 bus routes on the combined Valley Metro regional bus service were affected by the strike. The Tempe drivers still on strike operate 19 of those routes, and they’re running at just 42 percent of normal service.
Valley Metro serves more than 200,000 bus riders daily.
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