VISALIA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) — The Visalia Transit Center and local bus stops continue to sit empty weeks after the city’s bus drivers began their strike on July 8.

The spokesperson for Teamsters Local 517, the union which represents the workers, said Transdev is denying its employees normal lives.

“What the workers are asking for is imminently reasonable. What they want is uh, a living wage. And the number one priority is more paid days off. A lot of these workers, I mean they only get the state-mandated three days off per year,” said Matt McQuaid, Teamsters’ spokesperson.

McQuaid says the lack of PTO has robbed the Transdev workers the ability to attend major life events like weddings or funerals.

But negotiations have come to a stalemate, as the union’s last communication with Transdev was back on July 21.

We reached out to Transdev for comment Sunday but did not hear back.

“A lot of people who rely on public transit as their sole mode of transportation, a lot of people who are elderly, a lot of people who are disabled, they are really suffering because the company has caused this strike,” said McQuaid.

Visalia resident and bus rider Efrain Aguirre spoke to us when the strike hit in early July.

He said he relies on the bus to get to and from work, and school at Fresno State.

Without it running he has had to find rides or take his bike in the extreme heat in the meantime.

“It has been an adjustment especially since it’s been hot this summer. I honestly didn’t expect for it to go on for this long and I’m hopeful they’ll be able to come back to the table with an acceptable offer soon,” he said.

Monday, the union plans to take action to city hall, as a combination of over 200 workers and residents plan to rally outside starting at 6 p.m.

After the rally, they plan to fill the Visalia City Council chambers for their 7:00 p.m. meeting.

There they say they will demand action is taken to bring Transdev back to the negotiating table.

“City council, they’re the ones that decide if Transdev’s contract gets renewed. So, they have a lot of leverage here to get the company to settle the work stoppage,” said McQuaid.