Buses will be back on the streets of the Merrimack Valley Sunday after union leaders and transit administrators reached an agreement to end a 10-day transit strike that disrupted service for thousands of riders.
Nearly 140 drivers and mechanics agreed to a one-year deal with Merrimack Valley Transit that secures health care benefits, pension payouts, and a pay bump for union workers. But the core of the labor dispute — disagreements over how workers should be paid for weekend work — remains unresolved, with both parties vowing to return to the table for a longer contract.
Drivers are vying to preserve a process in place since 1976, in which they voluntarily sign up to work Saturdays and receive overtime.
Noah Berger, the MeVa transit administrator, said that “open work” policy has made it difficult to schedule and grow Saturday service. Riders requested expanding weekend service in a February survey the system conducted.
Despite agreeing to the one-year deal, system administrators warned in a statement that keeping Saturday overtime over the next year “creates budget and operational uncertainty for the agency and may require MeVa to implement strategic service reductions to offset the wage increase.”
Jim Marks, a business agent for Teamsters Local 170, the drivers’ union, called the measure a “fair compromise.” In the one-year deal, employees agreed to lower their hourly wage increase proposal from 15 percent to 12 percent.
Marks indicated the union was motivated to reach an agreement in order to restore service.
“The union was quite concerned about the amount of people in the public who do not have access to the drivers,” Marks said.
The strike began July 1 after union members rejected a second “best and final” offer from MeVa in late June. It temporarily paused service on almost 30 routes that wind through Lawrence, Haverhill, and Methuen. Paratransit service ran at 10 percent its usual frequency.
The work stoppage impacted the commutes and daily lives of local residents — many of whom have newly come to rely on the fare-free bus service. In the four years since MeVA stopped collecting fares, ridership has exploded to 60 percent above pre-pandemic totals.
Only 12 percent of MeVa riders own a car, a system study found.
Lawrence Mayor Brian DePeña chimed in Thursday to encourage the union and MeVa to reach a deal.
“Our residents deserve a reliable transit system, and they are counting on all involved to reach an agreement that allows them to return to their daily lives,” DePeña wrote in an open letter.
The state’s other 14 regional transit authorities in Massachusetts all went fare-free in 2025, as required by state law.
That said, the Saturday “open work” policy under contention is not the norm at other agencies, transit administrators told the Globe.
In its latest proposal, MeVA offered union members a 25 percent wage increase over three years and a $3 hourly differential for Saturday work. It would have also maintained some existing volunteer Saturday shifts.
The number of MeVa drivers has doubled since the agency went fare-free.
Marks, the union’s business agent, said that the Saturday overtime dispute is still top of mind for drivers after the strike ended.
“This isn’t something that the union proposed to the company,” he said. “This is something that has been in an union contract for decades.”
Diti Kohli can be reached at diti.kohli@globe.com. Follow her @ditikohli_.