BART STRIKE, BART unions 'ready to go on strike'
With the
possibility of a second BART strike a day away, talks between the transit
agency and its labor unions continued under a media blackout that provides few,
if any, hints of progress or gridlock at the bargaining table. After
bargaining past 10 p.m. on Tuesday, negotiators for BART and its two largest
unions - Service Employees International Union Local 1021 and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 - returned to negotiations at the
Caltrans building in downtown Oakland at 9:30 a.m. Members of bargaining teams
emerged for brief breaks but had little to say other than that they were making
slow progress. But whether it's enough to keep BART from shutting down,
nobody knows.
The 60-day
cooling-off period ordered by Gov.Jerry Brown to forestall a strike in August expires at
11:59 p.m. Thursday. So far, the unions have not issued their customary 72-hour
notice of a strike. But since that notice is a courtesy to commuters, there's
no guarantee union members couldn't walk off the job Thursday night or Friday morning.
In an interview outside the Downtown Berkeley BART Station, BART General ManagerGrace Crunican said that after months of unproductive
bargaining in fits and starts, the two sides are finally making progress,
thanks in large part to the federal mediator, who is pushing both sides.
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