A unit of around 70 drivers and other workers who operate Salem Cherriots’ paratransit and rural regional transit service voted Nov. 15 to ratify a new contract — their first negotiated with a new employer.
Salem Area Mass Transit District, also known as Cherriots, contracts with an outside company for regional service in rural Marion and Polk counties and also for door-to-door service for riders with disabilities throughout the district.
In 2023, MTM Transit replaced MV Transportation as that contractor and it agreed to take over the MV Transportation contract with Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 757 that expired Dec. 31, 2024.
The unit includes about 60 drivers plus utility workers who clean the vehicles, dispatchers, and customer service representatives who joined the union this year.
The new contract gives raises of 7.5% in the first year and 3% for each following year. For drivers and utility workers, the first-year raises are split between 3.75% effective Jan. 1, 2025, and an additional 3.75% effective July 1, 2025. Workers will get retroactive pay.
The starting wage for drivers and utility workers was $20.30 but is now $21.85. It’ll go up to $22.50 in less than a month. Call center workers will start at $18.54 next year.
The new contract maintains health coverage with premiums paid fully by the employer. Local 757 Liaison Officer Joshua Taverne said over the past decade, the unit has gradually lost benefits as health care costs have increased. The union wanted to stop the loss of benefits or even improve benefits, but settled for preventing any further cuts, Taverne said.
ATU Local 757 members ratified the contract with 75% support. Members had previously voted down what the company had called its last, best offer.
Negotiations extended for nearly a year after the last contract expired.
“MTM seemed a little green, like they weren’t 100% sure what they were doing with dealing with a union,” Taverne said.
The two sides were set for federal mediation, but then the federal government shut down.
“That spurred a second try at trying to come to some resolution,” Taverne said.
MTM is short-staffed by more than 10 drivers, Taverne said, in part due to low wages that weren’t competitive enough to attract new hires. Members are happy to get the contract settled and hope to welcome new hires soon, he said.
