BART Trains Running Thursday, Mediator Says Progress Being Made
OAKLAND (CBS / AP) -- The contentious talks between the Bay Area Rapid Transit agency and its two largest unions have dragged on for six months—a period that has seen a chaotic dayslong strike, a cooling-off period and frazzled commuters wondering if they'll wake up to find the trains aren't running.
"We're going to do everything we can to avert a strike," Josie Mooney, a chief negotiator for Service Employees International Union Local 1021, said before entering talks Wednesday. "That doesn't mean we're not ready for a strike. That doesn't mean we're not able to pull off a work action. We don't want to."
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Hundreds of thousands of commuters have endured seven strike deadlines, sometimes staying up past midnight waiting to hear if the trains will run in the morning.
On Wednesday, they waited until about 10:30 p.m. to receive word from a federal mediator that the transit system will continue to run Thursday as unions and management agree to keep talking.
The possibility of a strike appeared to dim earlier in the day when Local 1021 President Roxanne Sanchez said she was hopeful that her union and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 will come up with a deal by late Wednesday.
"We're asking that this process conclude tonight," Sanchez said. "We can do this. We should do this. It is within our grasp."
BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said the agency has been flooded with calls and emails this week from commuters frustrated that they haven't been given earlier notices.
Neither side would say where negotiations stand.
But at least one person seems comfortable betting that a strike won't happen.
A spokeswoman for San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee announced Wednesday afternoon that he had left on a trip to Asia. After delaying his flight for two days to ready the city for a possible strike, Lee concluded that a walkout seemed unlikely and went ahead with the planned trip.
Federal mediator George Cohen said progress has been made but he has imposed a gag order on the parties.
The key issues have been salaries and worker contributions to their health and pension plans.
Talks began in April, three months before the June 30 contract expirations, but both sides were far apart. The unions initially asked for 23.2 percent in raises over three years. BART countered with a four-year contract with 1 percent raises contingent on the agency meeting economic goals.
The unions contended that members made $100 million in concessions when they agreed to a deal in 2009 as BART faced a $310 million deficit. And they said they wanted their members to get their share of a $125 million operating surplus produced through increased ridership.
But the transit agency countered that it needed to control costs to help pay for new rail cars and other improvements.
On Sunday, BART General Manager Grace Crunican presented a "last, best and final offer" that includes an annual 3 percent raise over four years and requires workers to contribute 4 percent toward their pension and 9.5 percent toward medical benefits.
The value of BART's proposal is $57 million, BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said, adding that the agency is looking at ways to incorporate the unions' counterproposals into that cost.
SEIU Local 1021 executive director Pete Castelli said Monday the parties were between $6 million to $10 million apart.
Workers represented by the two unions, including more than 2,300 mechanics, custodians, station agents, train operators and clerical staff, now average about $71,000 in base salary and $11,000 in overtime annually, the transit agency said. BART workers currently pay $92 a month for health care and contribute nothing toward their pensions.
Meanwhile, Gov. Jerry Brown has agreed to seek a 60-day cooling-off period to end a strike threat by workers of Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District.
Brown announced Wednesday that he is ordering an investigation of the contract dispute between AC Transit and one of its unions.
AC Transit workers had given notice that they would walk off the job Thursday, and the 1,800-member union had made no promise to retract that notice. However, both sides agreed to resume talks Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Brown is appointing a board to investigate the strike notice, saying a strike could significantly disrupt public transportation and endanger the public's health, safety and welfare.
The AC Transit system carries about 100,000 people roundtrip each day.
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