Potential BART Workers Strike Could Strand San Francisco Commuters
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iStockphoto(SAN FRANCISCO) — Nearly half a million commuters in the San Francisco Bay area could wind up beginning the work week stranded at the station if Bay Area Rapid Transit workers go on strike Sunday night.
Josie Mooney, a chief negotiator for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1021, says there’s a 95 percent chance her union, along with the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1555, will go on strike after their contracts expire late Sunday. The two sides have been debating over issues involving wages, health and safety regulations and pension contributions.
The unions walked out on negotiations Saturday night. BART says they have a new proposal to give the union, but members need to come back to the table to receive it.
“We have a document, an offer, ready to make to them and we will deliver that. We will also review the document that they gave us and respond to it,” said BART spokesman Rick Rice.
Before they left, the Unions did say that the 400,000 BART riders should be prepared to find other modes of transportation to work come Monday morning. They gave commuters 72 hours warning of the potential strike. They were not required to give any warning by law.
The last time BART members decided to strike was 1997. That strike lasted six days.
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