MST drivers say tough conditions could prompt strike.

When you board a Monterey-Salinas Transit bus, the last thing you want behind the wheel is a driver who''s been on the road nine to 15 hours a day, every day for the past several weeks, with no day off.

But that''s what some MST drivers insist is happening. With the summer tourist season still in full swing, and 79 runs to fill, MST just doesn''t have enough full-time bus operators. So, in accordance with their contract, drivers can be called in to work on their days off. And when their regular work week rolls around again, they''re still in the driver''s seat, without a break.

"We have drivers who work weeks with no days off," says one MST bus operator who declined to be identified. "Three years ago, before our present contract, we had drivers who''d work months with no time off. A lot of the drivers are pretty irate. They''re upset. It''s an ongoing problem stemming from the lack of drivers."

And it''s a problem that could lead to a strike, as soon as the end of this month.

Cliff Gray, president of Local 1225 of the Amalgamated Transit Union representing MST bus drivers, mechanics and utility service personnel, says the problem has been going on for the past three years, every summer from Memorial Day through Labor Day or longer.

"MST has caused this situation, year after year, by refusing to hire full-time drivers each spring in anticipation of the summer workload," says Gray. "Most of our drivers are working six to seven days per week. This has been the cause of excessive illness, stress and fatigue for the drivers. Needless to say, it is a great health risk to both the drivers and the public users of the transit system."

When MST dispatchers have to fill the seat of an absent driver, they turn first to the "extras board," a list of on-call bus operators. Gray says that although the board has 25 positions, there are only two to four drivers listed on it at any given time.

When that list is exhausted, management turns to a list of drivers who have volunteered to work on their days off. And when that list is exhausted, they call in regular drivers who are off-duty according to a "forced reverse seniority" system, whereby the most junior drivers are called in first.

It''s all according to contract, so it''s legal. But drivers say the situation has become intolerable. When the system was first cooked up, Gray says, "we thought this technique would be used only occasionally," during times of peak demand. Instead, he says, MST management relies on it to fill drivers'' seats that should be filled permanently with new full-time operators.

Management is aware of the situation, but Gray charges that they don''t handle it correctly. "Every September, they hire full-time drivers," he says. "They bring in drivers from the WAVE operation to work full-time, the work load drops down and everyone relaxes until May of the next year, when the cycle repeats."

MST director of transit operations, Mike Hernandez, acknowledges the problem. "We do tend to have more of an operator shortage in summertime," he says. "Right now, we''re near the end of the summer peak. Some of that extra work will fall off."

But, Hernandez stresses, the problem isn''t that MST doesn''t want to hire more drivers--it''s that qualified applicants aren''t pounding at the door. "We certainly hire as many operators as we can," he insists. "But this year, in particular, we didn''t have as many applicants."

In September, a new group of WAVE drivers will begin work as full-time bus operators on regular routes. Usually, Hernandez says, they get 300 applicants for such an in-coming group. This year, only 100 applied. Of those, 22 were tested, 12 interviewed, and about half are expected to make the final cut to full-time, he says.

Why aren''t more folks applying? "The economy is good," Hernandez offers. "We may not have as many unemployed in the area."

Gray suggests the problem might also be due to the fact that until a one-half of one-percent cost-of-living increase earlier this year, MST drivers hadn''t received a raise in six years.

Hernandez points out that drivers called in to work on their days off have the right to refuse if they are too tired. "If an operator tells us they''re fatigued, by law we are prohibited from using them," he says.

But not all MST drivers know about that law. "I don''t even know if the drivers realize they can do that," says one driver. And, he notes, employees are reluctant to be considered "whiners;" they feel pressured into "volunteering" to work when they should be resting up for the coming work week.

"We get flak when we want our days off, from the people trying to fill those runs," he says. "The dispatchers and supervisors are caught in the middle."

The MST bus drivers'' current contract expires Sept. 30. Gray says the clause that allows management to require drivers to work on their days off will be a major point of contention. He says he knows of no other transit company that includes such a clause in its contract. Hernandez, on the other hand, says it''s "standard" in the industry.

If negotiations aren''t satisfactory, Gray says, MST bus operators are prepared to go out on strike. "There''s been a lot of talk about it," one driver acknowledges. "There are a lot of very irate drivers."

"The public needs to be served," counters attorney Dave Laredo, lead negotiator for MST in the contract talks. "If [this clause] were unusual, then my question is, how can we guarantee service? People would be waiting at a bus stop for a bus that never arrives." MST is a public agency, charged by the state with providing transportation to local residents. "There has to be a guarantee that service will be delivered at the time and place we say it will be," Laredo concludes.