Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority light rail and bus service is shut down Monday as more than 1,500 front line employees have gone on strike.

VTA’s final contract offer to workers last week included a wage increase of 9% over three years, keeping the employees as the second-highest paid in the Bay Area and the fifth-highest paid in the country. The union is seeking a 6% raise per year over three years and wants to add a clause guaranteeing arbitration for contract disputes.

The VTA operators’ union is responding after the transit agency went to court trying to get striking drivers back to work.

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority has requested Gov. Gavin Newsom to intervene and get striking VTA employees back to work.

Both the transit agency and the union say they are open to returning to negotiations, but no meetings have been set.