Union leaders announced on Thursday that BART workers will strike beginning on Monday morning, reports the Contra Costa Times. BART is one of the San Francisco Bay Area’s largest public transit agencies.
The Amalgamated Transit Union’s local president, Jesse Hunt, told reporters about the planned strike at a news conference, adding that he expected the other two BART unions to honor the picket lines.
On Thursday afternoon, the BART board voted unilaterally to impose a contract on the ATU after the two groups failed to reach a settlement. The imposed contract makes ATU members put 7% of their salaries into their pensions over the next year.
BART management has said they are trying to cut labor costs to help balance the budget. At the moment, BART can expect to face a $310 million deficit over the next four years.
Because of the strike, Bay Area traffic is expected to worsen considerably on Monday morning, according to Pacific Business News. A few other transit agencies have said they plan to deploy more vehicles, including AC Transit, who will send out a limited number of additional buses.
The last BART strike occurred in September 1997 and lasted for a week, seriously slowing regional traffic. Bay Area commuters are advised to adjust work hours, telecommute, or carpool next week.
You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ')group by comment_item_id order by a desc limit 10' at line 1
You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ')group by comment_item_id order by a desc limit 10' at line 1
You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ')group by comment_item_id order by a desc limit 10' at line 1