Members of Metro Transit’s Amalgamated Transit Union Local 587 voted to turn down a fair contract that would have provided them with a 2% pay raise over three years, The Seattle Times reports today.

The contract offer would have provided a fair pay raise, while allowing King County leaders to preserve more bus service for the public without raising regressive taxes.  Still, 66% of union members rejected the offer, saying it was not generous enough. 

The move is surprising because the higher salaries would have come on top of already-high wages union leaders have secured for their members over the years.  One union executive reports that for maintenance workers’ pay:

“Since 2001 our wages have brought us [from] being between 8^th to 14^th in the nation to the highest paid in the nation.”

This is the second pay-raise proposal recently rejected by Metro’s largest union.  Last year, unionized workers turned down a 5.7% pay raise.  Since then county voters defeated an increase in regressive sales taxes and car fees sought by union and county officials.

After the vote, King County Executive Dow Constantine submitted his plan of cutting 550,000 hours of bus service throughout the county. Many officials, however, were concerned about how these harsh cuts would affect the elderly, the disabled and low-income families. A five-member, bipartisan group of county councilmembers worked, and passed, a proposal to reduce and eliminate planned bus service cuts. Even though that plan was ultimately vetoed, a similar ordinance was approved by the full council to preserve bus service.

However, the negative vote by Metro’s unionized employees could make bus service cuts worse for people who depend on transit, as County leaders scramble to shift funds to satisfy union demands.