BUS STRIKE STILL ON FOR SECOND DAY.

SANTA CLARITA - Santa Clarita Transit drivers remained on strike Thursday, as replacement drivers and charter buses began picking up some of the 12,000 stranded riders.

No negotiations were scheduled this week, as schools and parents struggled to catch one of the nine charter buses provided by county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich or one of the school buses provided by the William S. Hart Union High School District.

``Getting to school was a lot smoother for all of our students,'' said Hart Superintendent Bob Lee.

About 1,000 students rely on Santa Clarita Transit. On the first day of the strike, Wednesday, more students than normal were late and absent from school.

Members of Teamsters Local 572 walked off the job Wednesday morning after rejecting a three-year contract offer from ATC Vancom of Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. The City Council recently approved a new $64 million franchise deal for the company.

City officials concentrated Thursday on getting more buses on the school routes and putting the commuter express buses back on the street.

Buses will run every 30 minutes today on Routes 1 through 6, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., according to Ron Kilcoyne, city transportation manager.

There will be no service on Saturday and Sunday, and additional buses are expected to be on the street by Monday morning. All of the buses will be free today and Monday.

The Santa Clarita Valley Committee on Aging began picking up elderly and disabled Dial-A-Ride customers, with the afternoon help of volunteers who deliver meals to home-bound residents, to take them to doctor's appointments.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department received several complaints Thursday about striking drivers yelling at replacement drivers and pounding on their cars as the strikers blocked their way to work, said Sgt. Danny Stotts with the industrial relations division.

``These things tend to escalate as time goes on,'' Stotts said. ``That's why you have to stay on top of it.''

No assaults were reported, and no arrests have been made, Stotts said.

All involved predicted a long strike, as the two sides remain far apart on the crucial issues of wages, drivers' health care contributions and overtime pay.

Drivers have asked for a 15 percent raise and for overtime pay after working eight hours a day, rather than after working a 40-hour week, according to head negotiator Miguel Lopez. The union also wants the company to cover the health care premiums for driver's dependents. The average driver pays $200 a month for health insurance for his or her family, company officials said.

Company officials have offered drivers with the most seniority - about 40 percent of the 105 drivers - a 9 percent increase in the first year of a three-year contract and a 19 percent pay increase over the term of the deal. Starting drivers would get an 11 percent pay hike in the first year, and a 24 percent increase by the end of the contract, according to General Manager Ken Graska.

``We just want to get back to the table,'' said company spokesman Arthur Sohikian.

Company officials have offered to freeze employee contributions to their health care coverage for the first two years of the contract, before a ``token'' increase in the third year, Graska said.

A full-time Santa Clarita driver at the top of the pay scale makes $12.09 an hour, while new drivers make $9 an hour. Many drivers say the low wages force them to take second jobs and or work long hours of overtime.

BUS UPDATES

For updated information about Santa Clarita Transit service, log on to the city's Web site at www.santa-clarita.com; or call [phone].

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(ran in SAC edition only) Santa Clarita Transit buses sit idle in the yard while the drivers' union continues a strike that began Wednesday morning.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer

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BUS UPDATES (see text)