Drivers for the Greater Attleboro-Taunton Regional Transit Authority walked off the job Monday, stranding thousands of riders, including many in Plymouth.
Both sides in the ongoing labor dispute apologized to customers who rely on the GATRA bus service, which offers rides to residents all over town.
“We want our transit team members at work as much as you do,” GATRA said in an emailed statement. “It is an economic dispute involving competing issues that must somehow be balanced. What’s at stake here is our ability to continue to deliver the services our riders and community rely on.”
Amalgated Transit Union Local 1548, the union that represents the drivers, mechanics, and support staff, called GATRA’s latest offer “subpar” and said members will remain on strike until an agreement is reached.
“The workers have the lowest pay and weakest benefits of any regional transit authority in the state, despite GATRA receiving financial assistance from the state Legislature,” the union said in an emailed statement.
“GATRA has left us with no other choice but to walk off the job. We want the citizens …to know we did not want to strike. We hope they stand with us,” the statement said.
GATRA and its contractor, Kiessling Transit of Attleboro, provide regular and on-demand bus service for riders from 30 communities — from Bellingham to the South Shore and Southcoast, including Plymouth, Pembroke, Scituate, and Wareham.
According to GATRA’s 2024 annual report, Plymouth customers took more than 77,000 rides on the authority’s five regular bus lines in Plymouth — ridership numbers second only to those of the Attleboro-Taunton area.
There are five regular routes in Plymouth — stretching across town — with stops in downtown, Cordage Park, Clement’s Market, and White Horse Beach, among others.
GATRA GO, a curb-to-curb service, was used by nearly 14,000 riders. That service is normally available to riders along the Plymouth coastline to Sagamore Beach.
Neither the regular buses nor the GATRA GO service were available Monday, according to GATRA.
Plymouth Select Board member Kevin Canty, who had called the possibility of a strike a “disaster,” on Monday urged the sides to get back to the bargaining table as soon as possible.
“GATRA provides essential services that many Plymouth residents rely on,” he said. “I implore the company to reach a deal with the union as soon as possible so that this vital bus service can be restored quickly.”
Negotiations have been ongoing since June, according to union president Charles Ryan, but are stuck on key issues that include wages and health insurance costs.
In its statement Monday, GATRA and Kiessling called their latest wage offer “generous” and said it “responds in earnest to (members’) concerns about wages, benefits and the creation of more rewarding job opportunities.”
“Why have they threatened to disrupt the lives of our passengers and citizens?” the statement said.
The union has “demanded” a pay raise of 21 percent over three years while Kiessling has offered 16 percent, according to GATRA’s statement. If GATRA’s offer were approved, experienced drivers would earn $64,397 year at the end of three years, the statement said. That number is based on a driver working 2,080 hours annually.
According to union president Charles Ryan, drivers’ pay now starts at $24 an hour and increases to $31.50 after five years, he said.
By contrast, he said, drivers for the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority earn $30 an hour when they are hired and after 90 days their pay jumps to almost $35 an hour.
The union has asked GATRA for raises of $1.79 an hour, but management is offering only $1.28 an hour more, Ryan said.
He said the pay is so low that some union members are forced to live out of their cars.
Plymouth pays an annual assessment to help cover the cost of the transit authority, which also receives federal and state funding. Plymouth’s FY26 assessment is $489,606.
GATRA is one of 15 regional transit authorities that provide service to residents outside of the MBTA’s service area.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.