MTA ACCORD COULD BE NEAR.

Byline: Dominic Berbeo Staff Writer

Negotiations to end the 18-day MTA strike intensified Tuesday night with both sides saying they might be on the verge of a deal.

The pace of talks sped up after rank-and-file members of two unions who walked out in support of striking bus and rail drivers defied pleas from their leaders and Gov. Gray Davis and refused to cross picket lines.

If a deal were reached today, it would still take several days to restore Metropolitan Transportation Authority services throughout Los Angeles County.

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, who called himself a facilitator in the talks, said he hoped a deal was near.

``This is the moment of truth,'' he said. ``Both sides have a good reason to get it completed.''

Miguel Contreras, head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, said both sides are determined to end the transit strike.

``The stage is set,'' Contreras said. ``If we reach a deal the United Transportation Union is prepared to have a ratification vote by Wednesday at 11 a.m.''

Earlier on Tuesday, however, tension mounted among the three transit unions over whether to return to work during contract talks.

UTU leaders criticized the mechanics union for urging its workers to cross picket lines, calling the move a ``back-door deal'' with Davis in return for signing a bill that protects the transit unions by preventing any newly created transit zones from contracting for new services.

Most of the 1,900 bus and rail mechanics represented by the Amalgamated Transit Union defied union President Neil Silver's request to cross picket lines Tuesday.

Calls to Silver's office were not returned Tuesday.

Davis called union leaders Monday night to urge their members back to work during the talks, said UTU spokesman Goldy Norton.

In signing the Democrat-backed legislation that Valley leaders say effectively kills hopes to provide cheaper and better service in the nine-city region, Davis said Saturday that he hoped to break the deadlock by resolving what he called the No. 1 issue.

But talks have stalled over the MTA's efforts to eliminate work rules that drive up costs dramatically, including scheduled overtime that increases bus drivers' pay by nearly 100 percent to as high as $80,000 a year.

A key conflict concerns the MTA's proposal to implement a four-day, 40-hour workweek to cut back on overtime expenses - a move the unions have called unacceptable.

Leaders of the UTU, which represents about 4,300 drivers, said they would call a mass membership vote today on whether to get buses and subways moving during talks regardless of how negotiations go.

``We will report to our members where things stand and they will make the decision on how this union will respond to the governor's request,'' said UTU President James Williams.

``We are pleased that the rank and file of the Amalgamated Transit Union have refused to go along with their leadership's back-room deal with the governor regarding the signing of SB 1101 and have not crossed our picket lines,'' Williams said.

Workers from the various unions on strike turned out at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday to picket at the MTA headquarters downtown, chanting ``Neil Silver, union traitor.''

Only a ``smattering'' of workers, including supervisors, crossed the picket line and reported for duty, said MTA spokesman Gary Wosk. ``It is our position that ATU is continuing to respect the strike, and there will be no disciplinary action against those that did not report to work Tuesday.''

At the MTA headquarters downtown, several workers driving up to work turned around at the sight of about 40 pickets.

``Most people just stayed home and respected the strike,'' said Robert Puente, an MTA mechanic on the picket line. ``There's usually a couple hundred workers that come in, and there's only been a couple dozen today.''

Puente, a 21-year MTA veteran, said workers sympathize with bus riders, but were prepared to continue striking to keep their overtime concessions.

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Photo:

Union workers yell at people crossing the picket line in downtown L.A. on Tuesday.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer