Posted on 08/16/2009 9:07:46 PM PDT by SmithL
OAKLAND -- The BART contract dispute was resolved this evening, averting a threatened transit strike that would have crippled Monday morning's commute.
The two sides announced that they had reached a tentative contract agreement less than six hours before train operators and station agents had planned to walk out and shut down the regional commuter rail system.
"It's the greatest thing for the Bay Area. It's what everybody wanted," said James Fang, vice president of BART's Board of Directors.
The deal was brokered after intense negotiations at the bargaining table and heavy lobbying by Bay Area elected officials and outside labor leaders.
Jesse Hunt, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555, said there is still work to be done to sell the tentative agreement to the 900 rank-and-file members of his union, which rejected a different contract proposal last week - setting the stage for a strike.
"There are no guarantees in life, but we think this is a solid, fair agreement given the economic times," he said. "And I'm confident our members will do what's right for everyone involved."
A vote by the union membership has not yet been scheduled and may be at least several days away.
Train service will not be disrupted, both sides said.
Terms of the revised, four-year proposal were not revealed this evening.
Dorothy Dugger, BART general manager, said that - if the agreement is approved - the transit agency will meet its financial goals, which are to reduce labor costs by $100 million over the next four years. Management had wanted $38 million in labor savings from Hunt's union.
"We reached a fair agreement and one that meets our mutual goals," Dugger said.
The tentative resolution to the labor dispute tops off a troubled year for the transit agency.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
BART riders will be poorer in the end. You just got screwed.
Why California is Broke
From the L. A. Times
1. 40% of all workers in L.A. County (L.A. County has 10.2 million people) are working for cash and not paying taxes. This is because they are predominantly illegal immigrants working without a green card. (By comparison, while LA County has 4.1M not paying taxes; Alabama only has a population of 4.6M.)
2. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.
3. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens.
4. Over 2/3 of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal, whose births were paid for by taxpayers.
5. Nearly 35% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally
6. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages.
7. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south of the border.
8. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.
9. 21 radio stations in L.A. are Spanish speaking.
10. In L.A. County 5.1 million people speak English, 3.9 million speak Spanish.
(There are 10.2 million people in L. A. County.)
(All 10 of the above are from the Los Angeles Times)
Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our crops, but 29% are on welfare. Over 70% of the United States ‘ annual population growth (and over 90% of California, Florida, and New York) results from immigration. 29% of inmates in federal prisons are illegal aliens.
We are a bunch of fools for letting this continue.
We the people have tried to fight all of this yet, one single judge can throw away the Will of the People.
Pretty sad.
This is why I will NEVER depend on public transportation. Union goons control your destiny.
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