COPTA approves bridge collective-bargaining agreement with Amalgamated Transit Union for streetcar staff

The Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority voted to approve a resolution accepting a collective-bargaining agreement with the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) covering streetcar operators and maintenance staff retroactive from May 2 through June 30 as a bridge arrangement while the agency aligns contracts.

"With this agreement, working with President Chris Burke there with the ATU, we're able to give the street car operators and maintenance staff, actually better benefits," said Jesse, the authority's administrator, summarizing the agreement's intent to migrate streetcar employees onto Embark payroll and benefits.

Nut graf: The resolution is presented as a temporary or "bridge" agreement that will allow Embark to bring streetcar employees into agency contracts; trustees were told that by the end of the bridge period staff expect to negotiate a single contract for bus and streetcar operators and maintenance staff.

Jesse explained the item was tied to the agency's budget plan to move streetcar operations in-house and that the bridge agreement incorporates bus contract language into the streetcar terms. "At that point, we'll actually be negotiating our bus contract, and we'll be bringing all of the streetcar operators and maintenance staff into one contract," Jesse said.

Trustees moved and seconded the resolution and approved it by electronic vote. The meeting record notes the adoption is retroactive for the period specified; the transcript does not provide financial figures, detailed wage or benefit changes, nor the exact text of the agreement. The agreement was negotiated with input from ATU leadership; the transcript names Chris Burke as ATU president with whom staff worked. No members of the public spoke for or against the agreement during the recorded portion of the meeting.