(The Associated Press distributed the following article on October 23.)
LOS ANGELES — Striking transit workers met with Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials early Thursday in their first face-to-face talks in two weeks.
“It’s a positive sign,” MTA spokesman Gary Wosk said. “Doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re making progress, but it’s a positive sign.”
The two sides met for more than two hours in a county government building lobby, but Wosk declined to say what was discussed.
The MTA has backed off a previous demand to take over the union’s troubled health care fund, and offered to increase monthly contributions to it.
Neil Silver, president of the mechanics’ Amalgamated Transit Union, did not immediately return a call early Thursday.
The strike began Oct. 14, with 2,200 members of the Amalgamated Transit Union walking off the job. They are being supported by 6,000 bus and train operators who have refused to cross picket lines. The transit system serves 500,000 riders a day.
The walkout is one of three labor disputes in Southern California.
A strike by grocery clerks entered its 12th day Thursday with no new negotiations planned. The strike has affected about 850 stores.
The union representing the clerks took the offensive Wednesday, saying workers would have to pay far more to maintain current health care benefits than claimed by three major grocery chains.
In another labor dispute, an Orange County Superior Court judge ruled this week that 11 Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who recently participated in an alleged “sickout” could be charged with contempt of court.