Westmoreland County Transit Authority board members last week ratified a three-year labor agreement with the union that represents nearly 50 bus drivers and mechanics.

The agreement ends contentious negotiations over the past five months, during which a proposed agreement was scuttled by a vote by rank-and-file members of the Amalgamated Transportation Union Local 1738 and an unfair claim filed against the union by the authorities.

The terms of the new agreement provide that drivers and mechanics will receive a 6.5% increase in the first year of the new contract, retroactive to July 1. Members will receive a 4% increase in each of the next two years and a 5% reduction in health. insurance costs. Signing bonuses of $1,500 for full-time employees and $750 for part-time employees will be paid to existing staff.

“Every time you are in negotiations, an employment contract is more difficult to obtain. It was important that we think about what is realistic to provide safe and reliable transportation,” said authority Vice President Dan DeBone.

Union officials said drivers and mechanics overwhelmingly supported the new contract in a vote this month.

“Overall, it’s not a bad deal, but we didn’t get everything we asked for,” said union president Jeremy Morgan.

Union members operate the authority’s fleet of fixed-route buses that serve all of Westmoreland County and daily trips to Pittsburgh.

Morgan said negotiations became tense after rank-and-file members in May rejected the authority’s initial proposal that included a four-year contract with larger raises. He said his members want a shorter deal that includes provisions protecting jobs if the authority cuts its bus service as part of an overall redevelopment of public transportation in Westmoreland County that includes new micro options. transportation.

Authority officials said the improper labor complaint filed against the union had been withdrawn.

The authority unveiled a new service development plan this year that includes installing pilot programs aimed at creating small areas within its service area where buses would be replaced by smaller vehicles operating similarly to Popular ride-sharing models such as Uber and Lyft.

The initial pilot project was tentatively scheduled to be implemented in the New Kensington area next year.

Authority Executive Director Alan Blahovec said planning for the new micro-transport program had not yet begun.

“We haven’t worked on it yet. We have requested assistance from PennDOT to help us implement it. We have made some small revisions to the routes, but there has been no movement on microtransport yet,” Blahovec said.

The authority’s overall service plan included revised routes and new service models to deal with changing public transport needs following the coronavirus pandemic which has significantly reduced ridership on the once-thriving system .

Attendance fell by more than 80% at the height of the pandemic. It has rebounded over the past two years and has seen growth of around 5.8% along the authority’s fixed-route bus routes over the past 12 months.