MTA DRIVERS THREATEN TO STRIKE AT MIDNIGHT.

Byline: David Bloom Daily News Staff Writer

The threat of Los Angeles' first transit strike in three years loomed Sunday as the MTA and its bus and rail drivers union failed to resolve several remaining contract issues, officials said.

The 4,200 members of the United Transportation Union served formal notice Saturday that they would not grant another extension to the contract that originally was to expire a week ago.

The two sides met Sunday but the talks broke off in the afternoon when negotiators failed to make progress, said Raman Raj, the agency's director of labor and employee relations.

``It has not been a very productive day,'' said Raj, adding that talks will resume this morning.

But unless a deal is cut by midnight tonight, the drivers said they will strike.

And with their strike, two other unions representing an additional 2,100 of the agency's workers - the Amalgamated Transit Union and the Transportation Communications Union - will honor picket lines and stay off the job.

If the strike can't be averted, it would be the first since 1994, when the ATU walked off and the other two unions didn't cross picket lines. That strike lasted nine days and snarled the city.

Spokesmen for both sides declined to specify what remaining issues were preventing a deal, but more generally, they have differed over overtime, use of part-timers, work rules, contracting some work to private companies and pension and benefit costs.

To deal with a possible strike, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority put in place a variety of measures to provide minimal bus and rail service in the region.

It has hired and trained part-time drivers, contracted with private companies, arranged for municipal bus lines to increase their routes' frequency and trained its own managers to take over some operations, said Raj.

In the event of a strike, only about 350 of the 1,759 buses usually on the road each day will be running, between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. The agency's Red, Green and Blue rail lines also will run during that time.

The agency also will run fewer buses on each route, meaning longer waits for riders, and won't run the buses on the entire length of some routes.

For instance, Route 177 between Glendale and Duarte would not run on weekends during a strike. Route 94, between Los Angeles and the county Juvenile Hall in Sylmar, would only run from the intersection of Olympic and Main to Sylmar.

Route 561 would be shortened to a shuttle between Sherman Oaks and Westwood, while Route 522 would run only on Reseda Boulevard between Devonshire and Ventura Boulevard.

Because of the reduced service, the agency would cut its cash fares to 50 cents for regular and student riders, and to 25 cents for elderly and disabled riders, said Marc Littman, the agency's director of public relations. Passes and tokens will also be honored.

Riders should check with their drivers today, call the MTA at [phone] or point their World Wide Web browser to http://www.mta.net/ to get more information because of the substantial changes in service.

``We sincerely hope there will not be a walkout, but if one occurs we will provide as much service as we can to help our patrons,'' said interim MTA chief Linda Bohlinger.

The union issued a statement as well, saying it still hoped to reach a settlement.

``We are still convinced we can reach a settlement without a work stoppage, and we are prepared to work around the clock until Monday at midnight to accomplish that,'' said UTU General Chairman James Williams.

A special MTA board meeting has been scheduled for today at 4 p.m.

SHORTENED SERVICE

If a strike hits the Metropolitan Transportation Authority after midnight tonight, the agency will stop operations on all overnight bus and rail routes. Then, beginning at 6 a.m. Tuesday, the agency will begin running bus service on 41 major lines, instead of the 166 it usually runs.

Generally, the agency will run fewer lines, with fewer buses, arriving less frequently, and in some cases for only a portion of a line's length.

The San Fernando Valley will have only 10 of its 23 lines operating during any strike. They are the 94, 96, 163, 167, 177, 180, 233, 420, 424, 522 and 561. The 94, 522 and 561 routes will be shorter than normal.

Routes elsewhere in the region that will continue to run are the 1, 18, 20, 30, 33, 45, 70, 81, 104, 105, 111, 117, 125, 128, 130, 152, 204, 205, 207, 210, 217, 225, 226, 232, 251, 254, 256, 260, 266 and 270.

Call the MTA at [phone] or navigate a World Wide Web browser to http://www.mta.net/ for timetables, service updates and other information.

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