Posted on 10/18/2013 1:42:18 AM PDT by granada
(Reuters) - Commuter rail workers in the San Francisco Bay Area went on strike on Friday after talks with management over a new contract broke down, throwing the morning commute into chaos in the traffic-clogged region.
The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) management and employee unions have been at loggerheads for months over pay and benefits for more than 2,000 train drivers and other union workers who are demanding large pay raises in part to offset being asked to contribute to their pensions and other benefits.
On Thursday, union officials said both sides had finally agreed on pay and benefits, but remained at odds over workplace rules. It remained murky as to precisely what details about workplace rules had foiled a deal. Under the terms of the last contract offer made public, BART management said it offered a 12 percent pay raise over four years to workers.
BART commuter train service is used for more than 400,000 rides each day and helps lighten traffic in San Francisco, which ranks as the third most congested metropolitan area in the nation after Los Angeles and Honolulu, according to the roadway traffic software company INRIX Inc.
The Service Employees International Union Local 1021, which is one of the two unions in negotiations with BART, set the strike to begin at midnight on Thursday.
A final negotiating session that began at 10 a.m. local time (1700 GMT) on Wednesday ended more than 28 hours later on Thursday afternoon with the two sides splitting up, the union said in a statement. BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost also confirmed talks had ended.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Uh, could this include the increased costs due to Obamacare?
DOH!
holding a city hostage until they get what they want-typical liberals.
OK, SFO.
You love being liberal, enjoy the fruits of your ideology.
OWN IT while you are stuck on the 280/101/80, etc.
Sing to yourself “I am so happy I am a liberal, I help people with OPM!”
You cannot close everything down with a 'put a gun to the head' attitude... 
and expect negotiations to solve this!
Unless, of course, if you are a union... 
that backs me to the hilt with million of dollars in campaign donations and free campaign workers.
Then I say, 'Nail... 
those management bastards to the wall and to hell with the consequences to the public!'
Once a radical community organizer... 
always a radical community organizer--
Is it age that contracts time for me or does this seem to be going on with BART on an almost monthly basis? I’d be ready to lock up those union leaders if my daily commute was dependent on BART.
ff
Ironically, one of the primary motivations behind the establishment of the old Federal highway system after World War I was a recognition by leaders in government that the railroads had become too powerful, and therefore the nation needed an alternative competing mode of transportation. It’s interesting that in many cities, commuter transit agencies have now become such a weak link in the transportation system.
And this is a reason why you can’t let liberals force everyone into public transit. If the unions have a tantrum, life is literally on hold.
The back plan I just read on their website are buses that can handle 6,000 people a day. Normal ridership is 400,000!
What a mess.
Take note of the result: Said “leaders in government” ended up taking over the passenger rail.
One of the worst examples is the big push by New York City to take over its privately-operated subway/elevated system. First they built city-run “competing” lines (called the “Independent Subway” in a twist of open irony) and then they forced the private companies by law to hold down fares to a flat rate of 5¢ for all stops. When the city took over the private lines after bankrupting the companies that ran them, then subway line expansion stopped dead.
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