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. VTA is also asking the union to allow the long-term leave to be decreased from two years to one year, and to change the structure of holiday pay.