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.

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

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 workers strike in Santa Clara County entered its second day Tuesday with some 1,500 workers on the picket lines demanding increased wages and improved benefits from the transit agency.

Monday marks day one of a South Bay transit strike that stands to disrupt the commutes of more than 100,000 VTA riders.

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