BART’s largest union voting on contract proposal

By Jessica Alexander Wertheim
The Public Press

BART’s largest union, the Service Employees International Union Local 1021, is voting on a revised four-year contract proposal Thursday at the Oakland Marriott City Center through 8 a.m. Friday, a proposal that was rejected earlier this week by the transit agency’s second-largest union.

If this vote fails, "there’s another round of mediation before the strike signs are prepared, but a required 72-hour notice to BART riders that a strike is imminent, no longer exists," ABC 7 reported.

The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 rejected Tuesday’s contract offer from management by a vote of 688-0. While union leaders have not yet called a strike, they have not dismissed the possibility of a strike in the near future. The new bargaining table is tentatively set for as early as next week, with state mediators, union leaders and BART negotiators all pulling up a chair.

The contract that BART management had proposed included: frozen wages for three years, a 0.75 raise increase in the fourth year, retirement benefits, and a cap on district costs for medical coverage.  The union retaliated, saying that given the amount of money that it saves BART, management should provide employees "five years of service at the transit district to get post-retirement medical coverage. The union offer would push the vesting period to 15 years of service."

While the initial rejection of this contract did not thrill BART managers, in a recent interview with Inside Bay Area, the managers stated that they are "committed to working out a contract that saves BART $100 million over four years in the midst of a recession that has slashed sale tax and state transit funds."  Additionally, the provision of a 15-year vesting period is simply unrealistic; "the state retirement system won’t allow a 15-year vesting period for retirement benefits."

BART has lost a substantial portion of its revenue because of a drop in sales and property taxes and because of the recession. Despite the recent fare increases and a steady number of riders, the agency is still facing a $100 million deficit.  BART says it will be unable to support  support the same level of service and number of riders unless the unions agree to certain compromises.

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