RENO — Teamsters Union members have overwhelmingly ratified a new contract with the operator of Washoe County's bus transit system, including three years of wage increases and additional employer contributions to health care and pension funds.

The Sunday vote was 115 for and 15 against the contract between Teamsters Local 533 and the Washoe County Regional Transportation Commission Ride bus system, a union official said.

The pact was reached after more than nine months of negotiations and authorization by union members in April to strike for the first time since 2002.

Teamsters Local Secretary-Treasurer Mark Tracy called the deal to raise wages 3 percent retroactive to June and 2.5 percent in the second and third years of the deal a rarity in the current economic climate. He said a walkout would not have benefited either side.

The RTC/Ride bus system is managed by Transit Management of Washoe, Inc., a subsidiary of Cincinnati-based First Transit, which is owned by FirstGroup of Great Britain.

The publicly owned and taxpayer subsidized RTC/RIDE system is managed by three TMW/First Transit executives for a fee of about $400,000 per year.

Teamsters Local 533 represents about 2,200 workers in a variety of businesses and government agencies throughout the region, including all 183 RTC/RIDE drivers, dispatchers and customer service personnel of whom 156 are union members.