A bus strike in Phoenix has left hundreds of people that use public transportation waiting for hours.
Veolia Transportation and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1433 failed to end a nearly 2-year dispute.
Drivers walked off the job early Saturday and Phoenix officials say just over 20 percent of all buses will make their scheduled runs Saturday.
Phoenix mayor Greg Stanton, along with city council and public transit officials,?held a press conference Saturday at noon.
Stanton called for both sides to "Get back to the bargaining table," and he said, "You owe it to the people of the city."
At the press conference, the interim public transit director, Neal Young, said on an average weekend approximately 55,000 people rely on the public transportation.
About two dozen bus drivers were protesting Saturday at the Public Transit South Division.
"I've been driving for 30 years," said Arlene Willis.
Riley Michael has been driving for four years and said, "Everything that the company is doing is totally against everything that we have been working for."
Valerie Michael with Veolia Transportation said most of the negotiating terms have already been negotiated, "50 of those 56 have already been negotiated." She said it has come down to six points like vacation time, healthcare, a 401K plan, sick leave,?holiday time and wages.?
A CBS 5 news crew waited for a bus at Thomas and 44th Street. After waiting nearly an hour, a bus finally came. We talked to a man on that bus who said, "I had a very important appointment I had to attend to earlier today and I was a half an hour late."
For the hundreds of people that depend on the bus every day, they more than anyone want to see a resolution, but on Saturday, some just gave up.
"I'm done with buses for today," said Ronald Gugino,?a man who waited for a bus that never came.
The next scheduled meeting between Veolia Transportation Services and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1433 is set for March 21, according to Stanton.
Riders are urged to check the Valley Metro website to see if their route is affected.
Copyright 2012 CBS 5 (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.
Source: http://www.kpho.com/story/17127627/phoenix-bus-service-hit-by-driver-union-strike
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