Select DASH bus services will be impacted today and until further notice due to an employee strike.

Here’s the press release from LADOT:

June 27, 2013—The City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) announced that bus services for DASH Downtown and 14 of its DASH routes serving neighborhoods in South LA and the Hollywood area will be suspended immediately due to a contractual dispute between the private service provider, Veolia Transportation, and its employees.

Limited service will be available on DASH Downtown Routes D and E and a portion of Route F. DASH Downtown Routes A and B will not operate at this time.

In addition, fourteen other DASH routes will be impacted. Of those routes, DASH Beachwood Canyon, DASH Hollywood/Wilshire and DASH Southeast/Pueblo del Rio will operate a limited schedule.

The remaining impacted routes that are not operating at this time:

DASH Crenshaw
DASH Highland Park/Eagle Rock
DASH Fairfax
DASH King-East
DASH Lincoln Heights/Chinatown
DASH Leimert/Slauson
DASH Hollywood
DASH Los Feliz
DASH Midtown
DASH Wilshire Center/Koreatown
Weekend Observatory Shuttle

For the most up to date information on the work stoppage and when these DASH routes will be operating again, please check the LADOT transit website at ladottransit.com, follow LADOT on Twitter @ladottransit or call the LADOT Transit Store at (213, 310, 323, or 818) 808-2273.

LADOT solicits competitive bids from private contractors to operate its DASH, Commuter Express and Cityride services. Veolia Transportation is an independent contractor who was selected as the service contractor to operate the LADOT bus routes that have been affected. LADOT is not a party to the contract between Veolia Transportation and its employees and therefore can have no direct involvement in the contractual dispute or resolution of that dispute.

LADOT apologizes for the inconvenience this may cause our loyal riders.We will keep you informed of any developments and will do everything possible to minimize the disruption.

Keep reading after the jump for the statement from Veolia Transportation:

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 572, suddenly went on strike this morning. This union represents bus operators and mechanics that provide bus service on DASH Downtown and selected Mid-City DASH routes serving neighborhoods in South LA and the Hollywood area.
Veolia Transportation operates the Downtown the other affected DASH routes under contract to the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT). This strike is a surprise to Veolia who has been in productive discussions with the union for months. Veolia’s proposal to the union, which has been described as “very generous” by union leaders, has twice been recommended for approval by the union’s leadership to its membership only to be voted down because of internal local union issues unrelated to the offer made. Wage increases of between 4.29% and 15.59%, bringing the top wage rate in a shortened progression to $19.23 an hour, have been on the table for weeks.
Local 572 is comprised of two union locals that recently merged. In addition to good wages and benefits, Veolia’s proposal combines the provisions of the two prior agreements most favorable to the employees and would bring, for the first time, all members into the Teamsters pension plan.
Veolia is operating as much service as possible today using supervisors and other employees, as well as those operators who have crossed the picket line and reported for work. However, this strike will still have a significant impact on service today and possibly the next several days. We very much regret the impact that this strike will have on passengers who depend on bus service.
As the day goes on, Veolia will be better able to determine what percentage of service it will be able to put into place by deploying supervisors, other administrative staff who are trained to operate routes, and operators who elect not to strike. Updates on affected routes and service information for passengers are available on the LADOT transit website at http://www.ladottransit.com.
We are hopeful this strike will be concluded very soon and a proposal will be accepted by the union membership. We sincerely regret the negative impact of a strike like this which hurts a large number of people who rely on bus service to get to work, school, medical appointments and more.