AKRON — Akron METRO Regional Transit Authority workers voted overwhelmingly Friday evening to approve a new six-year contract with management, ending months of contentious negotiations and averting a threatened transit strike in Summit County.
Members of Transport Workers Union Local 1 cast their ballots at the transit authority’s headquarters on Kenmore Boulevard, with nearly 85% voting in favor of the new collective bargaining agreement. The union represents about 315 bus operators, vehicle service operators and clerical workers whose previous contract expired in 2024.
The deal will run retroactively from that date through May 2030. It includes a $2,000 annual attendance bonus — twice the current amount — and annual raises of 3%, 3%, 3.5%, 3.5%, 3% and 3% over the six years.
“We fought back and drove the economic value of the contract much higher than the bosses ever thought possible,” TWU International President John Samuelsen said in a statement. “We put together a strategic campaign with Local 1 leadership, executed the plan, and secured a contract that gives workers the respect and economic advancement they deserve.”
A bus operator making $66,500 today will make $80,200 by the end of the contract in May 2030, according to the union. The agreement also includes a flat increase to employees’ contributions toward company-sponsored health care plans, which the union said would be more than offset by the wage increases and bonuses.
Friday’s vote came three months after union members gave their leaders the authority to call a strike after rejecting a three-year contract proposal. A fact-finding report had recommended a three-year pact with two years without a raise, one 4% increase, a $3,500 signing bonus and no retroactive pay — a plan the Metro board approved in June but the union rejected.
“This is a major victory for the hard-working men and women who provide vital bus service to Akron and the surrounding communities,” TWU International Administrative Vice President Curtis Tate said.
The Metro RTA Board of Trustees is scheduled to vote on a resolution to approve the agreement at its next regular meeting at 9 a.m. Sept. 29.
