Sun Tran workers walk a picket line at Ronstadt Transit Center while on strike in August 2015.A federal mediator worked Friday with both sides in Tucson's 37-day-old municipal bus strike, bus management and Teamsters Union officials said.
It was the fourth day of negotiating meetings in the last week, punctuated by a City Council vote Wednesday urging Professional Transit Management to find a way to settle the dispute.
No details were released on how the negotiations were going, other than the two sides acknowledging they were involved in the talks.
More than 500 drivers, mechanics and bus station workers struck Aug. 5 seeking higher pay and improved working and safety conditions. That came several days after union members had overwhelmingly voted down what management called its final offer.
The city owns the bus system and contracts with Professional Transit Management to operate it, including allocation of about $30 million in taxpayer funding in the current city budget.
The City Council voted Wednesday to urge the management company to seek an end to the strike, and council members said money saved from not paying workers and running buses during the strike should be contributed to the funds available for a contract settlement.
The system normally operates 43 routes on weekdays with 66,000 passenger trips. This week, a 13th Monday-Friday route was added, and five routes are scheduled to run on Saturday. Sunday service has been suspended.
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