BATON ROUGE — Bus drivers with the Amalgamated Transit Union went on strike early Monday morning after they said the Capital Area Transit System imposed their contract over the Union's objections.

Bus rider Rosetta Franklin said the strike had impacted travel throughout the city.

“I had to walk from Scenic Highway, going to the overpass, walk on Plank Road. They got a train stopped, I get across the train to get to the other side because the bus. We don't have no drivers,” Franklin said.

She said it has been an inconvenience for her and others who ride the bus. She said she did not think it would come to a strike for bus drivers' voices to be heard.

“I heard it through the grapevine but I didn’t think it was true until I seen it with my own eyes because I need a bus,” she said.

A spokesperson for CATS said some drivers are still on the job and supervisors are filling in where needed. They said 22 out of 23 routes are being covered, but less often than scheduled. 

Franklin said drivers need to get paid their wages so routes can go back to normal.

“You don't want to pay these workers from taking their time and they know a lot of these people use these buses to go to work,” Franklin said.

Union workers said whenever CATS rescinds their contract, they will call off the strike. As of Monday afternoon, they have not heard anything back from the agency. CATS said they are working to resolve the problem with the Union but have not heard back from them.