Negotiations between managers of O'ahu Transit Services and the striking city bus workers were scheduled to continue this afternoon.

Talks between OTS and the union representing more than 1,300 city bus employees broke off last night with negotiators still far from an agreement.

But OTS spokeswoman Marilyn Dicus said all customers were notified yesterday that Handi-Van service — which had been cut by about 40 percent since Aug. 28 — would be back to full strength today.

The Handi-Van service had been affected by the bus strike because the same union represents all the drivers and Teamsters officials earlier had said they planned to picket Handi-Van offices as part of a sympathy strike. Last week, union leader Mel Kahele said he decided against the picket line out of compassion for the customers and drivers.

But OTS officials continued to limit services for regular standing appointments because they said they could not get vans to maintenance facilities behind the Teamsters picket lines.

Dicus said the company restored all service today because "we do have an agreement with the union that managers can drive Handi-Vans through the lines to get them serviced."

But Kahele and OTS even disagreed over how service was restored. "They always had the option to drive across the picket lines," Kahele said. "We have no problem with Handi-Van. The issue wasn’t about Handi-Van."

Dicus said that management has been and will continue to have the vans serviced at another maintenance facility as well but had not been driving through the picket lines.

Leaders of OTS and the Hawai'i Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996 returned to the table yesterday with optimism after Mayor Jeremy Harris promised there would be no layoffs or cuts in benefits for the term of a three-year deal.

But at 10:20 p.m., the two sides left the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall, no closer to a settlement.

OTS officials went into yesterday’s talks insisting there was no money for pay increases. The union entered the talks seeking no raises in the first year, but 50 cents an hour in the second and third years of the contract.

After talks broke off last night, Kahele accused the company of lying to the union and public. He said OTS has said that it had no money to pay for wage and benefit increases, but last night Kahele said OTS confirmed that money was not the issue.

But OTS negotiator Perry Confalone said there is no money in the budget for raises. He said OTS presented two new proposals to the union, but both were rejected.

The first called for an 18-month contract with a wage and pension freeze. It also would call for no layoffs for the life of the agreement.

The second option was a 30-month contract, with the union able to reopen talks in the final 12 months and negotiate wage and pension increases.