UC Irvine Institute of Transportation Studies

This paper reports initial impressions from a year-long study which is investigating associations between labor-management relations and organizational performance in urban mass transit. Five areas are discussed: the legal framework, labor and management organization for bargaining, relationship patterns, the collective agreement, and the performance indicators. In many cases the impressions are based upon observations at a substantial majority of 28 public transit organizations visited. In some instances the discussion draws attention to situations which, though infrequent, may merit attention from labor, management, and industry officials.