AC Transit bus

AC Transit bus drivers and mechanics backed away from a threatened strike Tuesday night after they were able to agree with management on terms for a new contract.

The AC Transit Board of Directors and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 192 announced the agreement around 11 p.m. — an hour before the 1,625 workers had threatned to walk off the job. The bus operators and mechanics will get a 9.5% pay increase over the next three years.

The settlement means that the 181,000 people who use the buses each day won’t have to scramble to find a new way to get around the East Bay.

Related:

AC Transit workers prepared to strike Wednesday (08.06.13)

Frances Dinkelspiel, Berkeleyside and CItyside co-founder, is a journalist and author. Her first book, Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California, published in November...