The Teamsters Union Local 533 on Sunday overwhelmingly cried “no” in a 130-2 vote against RTC’s proposed contract that Teamsters secretary-treasurer Mark Tracy said does not recognize the employees’ rights within the company.

Out of 162 members, 133 members attended a meeting on Sunday to hear final thoughts from Tracy, the lead negotiator, who submitted and reviewed the entire proposal for consideration.

All 133 employees who attended cast a vote, but one ballot was disqualified, Tracy said.

“I think (the vote) send out a resounding message to (RTC) that they need to get back to the table and negotiate a fair contract,” Tracy said. “(It) was not about economics, not about raises, not about pension costs; it was totally about not giving up their rights and that’s what the company wants to do.”

The union and the RTC RIDE bus system saw the end of their three-year contract Thursday, leading the sides to work toward contract revisions including employees’ rights to rewrite work rules, a reduction in the number of months for leave of absence and the recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a full holiday bus schedule.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is the only holiday currently not recognized by RTC as a holiday schedule.

Tracy said under the National Labor Act, the company is obligated to negotiate with the union in which the employees are affected in any condition of employment.

“In any negotiation, it’s standard for the union to start high, the company to start low and they negotiate a way to understanding in the middle,” Tracy said.

He called the proposed contract “way short of near the middle” for the union.

“(RTC) just wanted to take their marbles and go home because we wouldn’t give them what they wanted,” Tracy said.

Teamsters has considered a strike as a last resort, but Tracy said he hopes to avoid that.

“I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the union, for the city and for the public to call a strike in this day and time,” he said. “I don’t think it’s the right thing to do. I do think we need to come back to the table and negotiate.”

Now Tracy said he will write a letter to RTC demanding that the company returns to the table in good faith and come to a reasonable solution that would work best for both sides.

“I will totally reject the city’s version of ‘Mein Kampf,’ ” he said.

Negotiations were halted on June 9, just 53 hours prior to the previous contract’s expiration date, which Tracy called “horrendous.”

“They halted negotiations...when their attorney said, ‘If I can’t get the work rules I want...I’m just going back home to Texas,’ ” he said. “There was plenty of time to negotiate, plenty of time for an agreement to be reached and be made.

“I think now with 130 employees saying no, I think the ball is in (RTC’s) court,” he continued. “It sends a message loud and clear to this company that there’s something horribly wrong with this company.”

Tracy said he would continue to work for union members in the hopes of resolving the situation that’s acceptable for both sides.

“The optimal outcome is for the parties to meet, negotiate and work out an agreement that the union can take back to their membership with pride and say, ‘This is a good contract for both sides and you need to ratify it.’

“One-hundred and thirty-three men gave up their Father’s Day – it was that important to them,” he said.