BART Workers to Strike July 1st?
Apparently we're eight days away from the end of BART workers' current contract, and therefore eight days away from a possible BART strike due to the aggressive negotiations necessary in the face of BART's (and everyone else's) fiscal crisis. In this charming, arguably anti-labor report from KRON4, we learn that it takes 2 people to replace a cushion on a BART train, and some BART employees make more in overtime than they do in regular salary. "So this is in the midst of rising fares, rising parking fees, they're $250 million in the hole -- how can this be happening?!" asks the appalled anchorwoman.
The workers' union blames bad management, saying that "high executive salaries and bonuses, and tens of thousands of dollars of expenditures on catering, promotional items, labor consultants [and] clothing" are responsible for the current crisis.
The last BART strike was in 1997 when 85,000 fewer people were riding the trains. Should a strike occur, expect major messes on the bridges, broken Muni trains, packed buses and plenty of local news outrage. Also, expect that we won't be seeing 24-hour BART service in our lifetimes.