MTA PACT GIVEN LITTLE CHANCE LABOR LEADER PREDICTS MEMBERS WILL REJECT PROPOSAL TO END TRANSIT STRIKE.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

The MTA passed out its final contract offer Wednesday to its striking mechanics, while the county's top labor leader met with about 100 workers as they picked up their strike pay.

Labor leader Miguel Contreras said he doubted the Metropolitan Transportation Authority would get the ``yes'' vote it's seeking in efforts to end the transit strike, now in its third week.

``There's a lot of frustration, anger at the MTA ... I'm not sure the MTA should ask for a vote. They might not like what they get,'' said Contreras, who heads the AFL-CIO's umbrella organization of 350 unions.

``Why go in that direction again? We don't need to fan the flames anymore. We've got to get back to bargaining.''

Workers on the picket line in the San Fernando Valley expressed similar sentiments earlier this week.

But the MTA has remained steadfast, saying an offer of $30 million in wages and benefits is as good as it gets, and the union membership should vote on the offer.

``If they reject it, they're going to have that same offer to consider a couple of weeks from now,'' said MTA spokesman Marc Littman. ``This strike is entering its third week. It's cost so much misery to so many people.''

The mechanics walked out Oct. 14 - primarily in a dispute over health care benefits for employees and retirees - shutting down bus and rail service for more than 400,000 riders and causing $4 million daily in losses to the local economy.

Mechanics now pay nothing for health plans for single coverage and $6 for families, and those costs would likely increase with the MTA's offer.

The MTA contributes $1.4 million monthly to the union-managed fund, which the union uses to provide health insurance to the workers and retirees.

The MTA has said that if the union managed the plan better, the workers' out-of-pocket contribution could be about $70 a month, which the union had at one point offered to have the workers pay.

Further, the MTA offers no increase in costs for retirees, for whom the union has been providing additional health coverage from the fund.

Contreras said he couldn't comment on specifics of the contract, and that a third party is needed to help resolve the differences.

``That's why you need a high-profile, third-party mediator, to look at those numbers. It's probably somewhere in the middle,'' he said.

The MTA would consider third-party intervention but has adamantly refused to turn negotiations over to binding arbitration, saying it's the MTA board of directors' responsibility to adhere to the bottom line.

The mechanics Amalgamated Transit Union President Neil Silver did not return phone calls for comment.

In all, the MTA is offering a four-year contract that includes:

--A one-time $4.7 million contribution to shore up the health benefits fund, which is on the verge of bankruptcy.

--Equal control of the health fund by the union and the MTA, which the union has said it's willing to do.

--A 14 percent increase to the health fund this year, and 15 percent increases in each of the next two years.

--Wage increases that include quarterly pay hikes retroactive to Dec. 1, 2002 that amount to 1 percent; no wage increases for the current 2003-04 fiscal year; and 2.5 percent wage increases, made up of 1.5 percent wage hikes and 1 percent in quarterly wage bumps, for the 2004-05 and 2005-06 fiscal years.

Lisa Mascaro, [phone]

lisa.mascaro(at)dailynews.com