The Board of Directors of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) passed two important votes at its regular monthly meeting June 5, 2025 regarding a contract with the agency’s largest union, and a budget for the next two fiscal years.

The Board unanimously approved a contract ratified by an overwhelming majority of employees represented by the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 265 during its June 5 regular board meeting.

The new contract with ATU, a four-year deal which deviates from the traditional three-year contract, will take effect Monday, June 9, 2025.  Pay raises included in the contract, which are not retroactive, go into effect June 9, 2025.

The two sides settled on a new contract when ATU members voted overwhelmingly on June 3, 2025, to accept a four-year deal that included a 14.5% pay increase over four years, expanded dental benefits, expanded apparel vouchers and workplace policy improvements. 

VTA’s three other unions, AFSCME, SEIU and TAEA also have four-year contracts, which were renewed earlier in the spring.

The FY 26/27 biennial budget was approved, as VTA heads into deficits of more than $800,000 for FY 26 and $14.1 million for FY27. Departments across VTA worked closely to identify cost efficiencies, safeguard essential services, and stay true to our values of equity and sustainable mobility. The agency plans to offset its losses through cost-cutting measures that do not reduce transit service, potentially supplementing with reserve funds.

This year’s budget process was among the most challenging in recent memory, shaped by declining sales tax revenues, rising operating costs, and ongoing economic uncertainty.