LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- TARC employees said in a strike authorization vote they want better wages and working conditions, but whether they actually decide to walk off the job remains unclear.

Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1447, the union that represents more than 430 TARC workers, turned down the latest contract offer in September, calling it insulting. The previous contract had expired a week earlier.

Union members have been calling for higher wages and better working conditions for months, and recent events have pushed them to the edge. Specifically, drivers are particularly concerned about safety.

"Within the last three years, we've had a driver stabbed, we've had a driver spit on, we've had drivers shot at," said Lillian Brents, president of the union.

According to Brents, employees are working about 70 hours a week just to try to make ends meet.

"We want to be able to put food on our table and put a roof over our heads," Brents said. "We want to be able to take care of our family just like every other American that shows up to work every single day."

After several protests and rounds of negotiations, the union voted Thursday to grant leadership permission to call a strike.

Brents said she reached out to TARC management to arrange a meeting before the vote.

"Prior to us even taking the strike authorization vote, we notified Carla Dearing and requested a meeting to speak with the board to try to resolve some of these issues and talk about the things we are so far apart," she said. "She did respond and said she got our message. She never reached out to us as far a reaching across the line as advised by Metro city council. She never reached out to where we could have that meeting."

TARC spokeswoman Jenny Recktenwald said neither Dearing nor her executive assistant have a record of a written request from Brents in writing. In a statement to WDRB News, she said, in part:

The statement goes on to say that private meetings with the board and the executive director to discuss official TARC business are not permitted under the bylaws, and those same bylaws prevent the Board of Directors from negotiating on the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

"So to have a private meeting about the CBA with the board would be an action completely outside the norm of the collective bargaining process that is followed by unions all across the country," Recktenwald said. 

Even though 95% of Thursday night's votes were in favor of the authorization, Brents wouldn't confirm if there are actually any plans to go further.

"All we said we were going to do is do a strike authorization vote," Brents said. "That is part of the process within our union. All of our movements, all of our actions, are based on our membership and their permission."

Another wrinkle: It may be illegal for TARC to go on strike. According to Kentucky Statute 336.130, "No public employee, collectively or individually, may engage in a strike or a work stoppage."

On Friday, Recktenwald said it was business as usual after Thursday's vote.

"Despite voting yes to a strike authorization, TARC management has not seen anything to indicate that union members are participating in a work stoppage or sick out," she said.

While it's still unclear what could happen moving forward, Brents said the union has made its stance clear and is ready for real change.

"For us, the employees, my members, we intend to show up to work until TARC gives us no other choice," Brents said. "We're going into each situation, one situation at a time, with good faith and hope to settle this contract."

Union members and TARC leadership are expected to return to the negotiating table on Nov. 2.

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