TARTA board OKs contract extensions with unions

The Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority board of trustees yesterday approved one-year contract extensions with the agency's two labor unions.

Members of Amalgamated Transit Union, representing about 170 bus drivers, mechanics, and cleaners, and UAW Local 5242, representing about 40 clerical and supervisory workers, will continue to work under the terms of the final year of contracts that recently expired.

Without discussion, TARTA trustees voted 11-0 to approve the two extensions. The unions previously agreed to extend their contracts.

Top-of-scale pay for Local 697 members ranges from $13.93 per hour for part-time drivers and full-time bus cleaners to $22.09 for top-rated mechanics.

Members of Local 5242, also known as the Toledo Association of Administrative Professionals, are paid salaries ranging from $23,947 for entry-level clerk-typists to $48,646 for the deputy director of maintenance.

TARTA trustees also voted by acclamation to reappoint board President James Bohn and Vice President Bonita Johnson to new one-year terms.