(The Associated Press distributed the following article by Robert Jablon on November 19.)
LOS ANGELES — A musician waiting for the Red Line subway train with a bag full of his homemade CDs rejoiced that he was mobile again.
More than a month ago, Dadisi Komolafe had to leave transitional housing in North Hollywood to live in a Los Angeles shelter because he couldn’t afford to travel the 15 miles or so to L.A. for gigs.
The end of a 35-day transit strike was a blessing for Komolafe, 47. He lives on welfare payments of $221 a month and estimated he earns another $200 by playing his flute and saxophone on the streets – so taxis were out of the question.
“They cost you an arm and a leg soon as you flip the lever up,” he said. “It’s like three or four dollars and you haven’t even went a block.”
Anger and relief were the main emotions Tuesday as the buses and rail lines that serve 400,000 commuters in Los Angeles County began rolling again after a tentative contract was reached with striking mechanics.
About 60 to 70 percent of buses were back in operation. The first began rolling Monday afternoon and all 2,100 should be back in operation by Friday, said Rick Jager, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Service resumed for portions of the Red and Blue lines, the two busiest commuter train routes, which normally carry nearly 200,000 riders on runs from downtown to North Hollywood and Long Beach.
All MTA rides will be free through Saturday and bus pass holders from October and November will be allowed to ride free until the end of December.
While the MTA managed to keep some routes going with privately run buses, the strike hit hardest for those who needed bus service the most.
Netty Guerra, 60, of Los Angeles, temporarily gave up her part-time job at a real estate office. She doesn’t drive because of arthritis and didn’t want to rely on friends and relations “because most everybody I know is either working or real busy with their children.”
Moving heavily with a cane, she waited for a Red Line train. It was the first time since the strike began that she was able to get downtown to visit her bank.
“I couldn’t go nowhere until today,” she said. “I can walk but the pavement aggravates my bones.”
More than 2,000 MTA mechanics walked off the job Oct. 14 and about 5,000 bus drivers and train operators refused to cross picket lines.
On Monday, the MTA board voted to accept terms of a tentative 3-year, 9-month labor contract, which includes a 6 percent raise over three years for mechanics.
Members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1277 were to vote Wednesday on whether to ratify the contract even though it doesn’t address the crucial issue of medical benefits. The MTA board agreed Monday to submit that issue to nonbinding arbitration.
The strike was costly for both sides. The MTA could lose 4 to 5 percent of its ridership and it could take months or even years to lure riders back, Jager said.
Iesha Hankins, 46, of Los Angeles, a mother of three, resorted to her old beater of a station wagon.
“It caused a lot of problems,” she said of the strike. “I had to drive a smoky car … I could pull it out of the driveway and go to the corner and smoke would be coming from everywhere.”
“If I get pulled over, they’re gonna give me a ticket or they’re gonna take my car.”
By some estimates, the strike has cost $4 million a day in lost wages and business for the MTA. Mechanics and drivers missed out on about $1,000 a week in pay, Jager said.
Loretta Halliburton, an MTA employee with 21 years on the job, said she survived on money from refinancing her home. Her college-aged children also sent her $100 for food.
“It makes me angry that I was caught between the unions and the MTA…Where do I go to get help?” she said. “I hope it never happens again.”