Community Corner

UPDATE: BART Strike on Hold

Board of inquiry to look into BART talks.

UPDATE: Sunday, 11 p.m. Aug. 4, 2013

 By Bay City News Service

Governor Jerry Brown stepped in to forestall a BART strike this evening by appointing a three-person board of inquiry to look into contract talks.

The board will investigate the threatened strike, which was set to begin at midnight tonight if BART did not reach a contract agreement with employee unions, Brown said in a letter tonight.

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Brown said he called for the inquiry because a strike would "significantly disrupt public transportation services" and "endanger the public's health, safety, and welfare."

The board is required to report back on the contract talks within seven days, and all parties are prohibited from any strikes or lockouts while the investigation is in progress.

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Leaders of Service Employees International Union Local 1021, which represents 1,430 mechanics, custodians and clerical workers, and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555, which represents 945 station agents, train operators and clerical workers, notified BART on Thursday night that their members would go on strike Monday if a deal wasn't reached by midnight tonight.

Negotiators were trying to strike a deal between BART and its two biggest unions on wages, pension and health care contributions. BART officials said they officially asked the governor today to call for a cooling off period to allow them to continue to negotiate.

"This would allow us to continue negotiating while assuring the public that it will have transit service tomorrow and for another 60 days as we continue to bargain," BART Board President Tom Radulovich said in a letter to the governor.

Union officials expressed disappointment in the outcome and said BART has been bargaining in bad faith, with no real attempt to reach a compromise and no interest in addressing many concerns raised by the union. They said the inquiry could help illuminate the problem, but will necessarily take energy away from contract talks.

"We've been here for the last 24 hours and we only got a very regressive proposal from BART in the past 45 minutes," said Josie Mooney, a negotiator for Service Employees International Union Local 1021.

Antonette Bryant, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555, said talks could have been resolved by the end of June if BART had been willing to negotiate.

"If the district would come to the table and bargain with us in good faith, none of this would be necessary, the governor would not have to get involved, the public worries would not be necessary," Bryant said.

BART officials have said they are focused on long term infrastructure repairs and improvement and reining in the costs of benefits.

"Our labor agreements must reflect those financial realities," Radulovich's letter to the governor said.

ORIGINAL STORY: Saturday, Aug. 3, 2013

Are you ready for another BART strike?

It appears Bay Area commuters are one day closer to having the transit rail service shut down for the second time this summer by an employee walkout.

On Thursday evening, BART union leaders issued a 72-hour strike notice, which means workers will walk off the job on Monday morning if a new contract agreement isn’t reached by midnight Sunday.

Union leaders could not be reached for further comment. BART officials said they are dismayed by the announcement.

"We are very disappointed and hope they reconsider their options," said BART spokesman Rick Rice. "A strike only stalls and delays the decisions that need to be made while using our riders as pawns."

BART riders interviewed at the Pleasant Hill station on Thursday afternoon seemed to think the strike will resume on Monday.

A Pleasant Hill resident who didn’t want to give his name said he thought the two sides were too far apart to reach an agreement by Sunday night.

He rides BART to his job in Oakland every day. If there is a strike, he plans to take Monday and Tuesday off and then ride the Amtrak train from Martinez to Oakland until the dispute is settled.

“I could drive, but I hate driving. Amtrak is the way for me,” he said. “I’m a little angry. It’s an inconvenience, but that’s the way it is.”

Two students at the station also felt a strike was imminent.

Tori Becker has been taking BART into San Francisco twice a week for classes. The Pleasant Hill woman said her course ends on Saturday, so she wouldn’t personally be affected by a strike.

Nonetheless, it bothers her that BART workers could walk off the job.

“It’s going to inconvenience a lot of people,” she said.

Chris Asper rides the bus from Fairfield to Pleasant Hill BART once a week to get to San Francisco to attend an Academy of Art class.

His final class is next week, but he says he’ll skip it if there’s a strike.

He believes there will be a walkout because BART employees have been passing out leaflets to riders with information on alternative modes of transportation.

“I don’t see why they can’t come to some sort of agreement,” Asper said.

BART workers staged a Thursday evening rally in downtown Oakland that included a 6 p.m. march to BART headquarters. Rally organizers said the event was designed to encourage all working people to stand up against corporate and government cuts. Occupy Oakland participants were expected to attend.

Meanwhile, union and management negotiators spent another day at the negotiating table Thursday without reaching agreement on a new contract.

Talks have continued over the weekend.

Union leaders and BART officials say the two sides remain far apart on major issues such as wages, benefits and pensions but that there has been some movement on both sides according to the SFGate.

Antonette Bryant, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555, said she was hoping the two sides would be closer to an agreement by now.

BART management says union negotiators are asking for a 21 percent pay hike over three years while the transit agency is offering 8 percent over four years.

BART is also asking union employees to pay 5 percent of their pension costs, phased in over four years. Union negotiators want a 3 percent contribution at the end of three years.

BART also wants union workers to pay 10 percent of their medical premium costs. Right now, they pay a flat $92 fee, about 5 percent of the premiums.

On Thursday, BART also released figures showing how BART workers’ benefits compared to other public employees.

They note BART’s medical costs have risen 251 percent the past 12 years while pension costs have increased 126 percent the past 10 years.

“We feel the public has the right to know the facts,” Rice explained.

Patch contacted union leaders for comment on the figures, but so far they have not returned the calls.

BART management also points out the average salary for a BART worker is close to $80,000 a year. Their benefits are worth about $50,000 a year.

Union leaders note that BART executives are paid hefty salaries, one reason for the high average.

BART General Manager Grace Crunican receives a base salary of $312,000. More than 20 other managers and police department employees earn base salaries in excess of $100,000.

In addition, it was revealed in June that former BART General Manager Dorothy Dugger received $333,000 in gross salary in 2012 even though she didn’t work a single day. The payment was part of a retirement agreement reached when Dugger resigned in 2011.

Members of the ATU and the Service Employees International Union Local 1021 went on strike for four days on July 1.

A 30-day contract extension brought the employees back to work on July 5, but that extension ends on Sunday night.

Other public transportation agencies are gearing up for the possibility of another strike. They have announced their plans to beef up service if BART employees walk off the job again.



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