7/1 12:19 AM: In an email statement, SEIU Local 1021 has confirmed that BART employees will be on strike Monday, July 1.
“We regret to say that after waiting for hours, we’ve received no new proposals from BART. They’ve not responded to our safety concerns and continued to stall on negotiations” said Josie Mooney, SEIU Local 1021 spokesperson.
“A strike is always the last resort and we have done everything in our power to avoid it.”
Union officials said the strike would not affect the remaining trains scheduled to run tonight, but that workers will walk off of the job later this morning and BART trains will not run due to the failed negotiations.
6/30 9:34 PM: BART officials are warning riders that union negotiators have left the bargaining table and a strike could start at the end of regularly scheduled service today.
BART spokesman Rick Rice said management and union negotiators reached tentative agreements on 11 items today, and that BART remains prepared to return to the table.
“We have a long way to go but we can’t get any closer if we aren’t at the table,” Rice said.
Contracts with BART’s two biggest unions, SEIU 1021 and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 155, are set to expire Sunday at midnight. Union members voted earlier this week to authorize a strike that could begin as early as midnight.
BART and union officials had returned to the bargaining table this afternoon at the request of Gov. Jerry Brown, after talks broke down yesterday.
Officials with Service Employees International Union 1021 and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 155 had walked out of negotiations Saturday afternoon stating that BART had failed to come to the table with an offer for more than 36 hours.
BART presented a new offer Saturday that included an increased salary offer and reduced employee contributions for pensions and medical benefits.
Union leaders have rejected it however, saying earlier today that the proposal would constitute a “net pay cut” unless numerous hard-to-meet conditions were fulfilled.
