BATON ROUGE - Complaints of a hostile work environment and bad-faith negotiations have caused friction between the Capital Area Transit System and the union representing employees.

Although the Amalgamated Transit Union 1546 has extended contracts with CATS to Jan. 8, it is still fighting for fair treatment.

"We want a just fair contract that's equitable to us, that's fair to the working staff at CATS," Union President George Decuir said.

He says everything erupted when CATS wouldn't meet their requests on their collective bargaining agreement. Although they haven't begun discussing economic negotiations, they want increased wages.

"We want to be the industry leader here in Louisiana. We want to lead the agency as far as working conditions and as far as wages," he said.

Decuir also alleges a hostile work environment as he describes a photo that was found in the employee breakroom as "promoting workplace violence."

"They depicted two stick figurines, one representing the union, one representing a worker. They had the union stick figure pointing a gun, robbing the other stick figure of money," he said.

A mediation meeting between the organizations is set for Wednesday to hopefully resolve the matter.

"The labor union is optimistic and hoping for the best," he said.

When asked what could happen if things do not go their way, Decuir says they will continue to seek a fair contract from other sources.

"We will seek community involvement and assistance from political figures within the community to which we serve to assist with getting a fair, just equitable contract. We are not seeking nor looking to disrupt the service," he said.

CATS sent the following statement in response:

At CATS, we recognize the critical role our transit workers play in providing essential services to the community. We remain committed to negotiating in good faith to achieve a fair and equitable resolution that aligns with the best interests of our employees, riders, and taxpayers.