The high cost of a bargain: Winning the right to use part-time transit drivers

Over the past decade most transit districts have gained the right to use part-time drivers. The change was strongly opposed by their unions and required substantial contract concessions on other issues to win union consent. This paper estimates the cost of these concessions: how much did transit management pay for the right to use part-time labor? It appears the cost was very large: during the early period of the innovation (1978-1981) the ‘give-backs’ necessary to win labor consent were probably as large as, or larger than, the financial gains from use of part-time labor. Furthermore, these initial bargaining costs have carried over into subsequent contracts. In contrast, the transit agencies that adopted part-time labor in 1982-1983 paid a much lower cost, probably zero. The study is based on cross-section regression analyses of data from 1979, 1981, and 1983. Each regression estimates the effects of a series of part-time labor dummy variables while holding constant the effects of agency size and the general wage level in the operating area.