BART talks in limbo as strike paralyzes commute

[alp227]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

As commuters slogged about the Bay Area without BART Monday, the transit agency and its striking unions both said they're eager to resume bargaining and end the rail system's first work stoppage in 16 years.

Yet nobody showed up at the bargaining table. And it's not clear when they will.

"Nothing is scheduled," said Alicia Trost, a BART spokeswoman. "We told the mediators we will meet, but we think the unions want to do their thing."

Almost 2,400 striking BART workers from the Amalgamated Transit Union and Service Employees International Union went on strike at midnight Sunday after negotiations collapsed hours earlier.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/BART-talks-in-limbo-as-strike-paralyzes-commute-4641826.php

---

"Striking BART workers out of touch with financial reality" is the editorial in Monday's family of Bay Area News Group papers including the Oakland Tribune and San Jose Mercury News (NOT a right wing news organization at all).

Other San Francisco Chronicle coverage:
BART strike adds half hour to drivers' commute

BART strike in '97 quelled with Willie Brown's aid

And while DU is normally a pro-union site, there's a time when ENOUGH IS ENOUGH with this strike isn't there?

[jberryhill]

1. "while DU is normally a pro-union site"

Yes, but an anti-BART site.

When BART shut off cell service underground in response to protest coordination via smartphone, I believe we threw BART under the bus, which is a difficult thing to do with a subway if you think about it.

If the MUNI shuts down then, I don't know what we'll throw things under.

[KamaAina]

19. Don't forget Oscar Grant

perhaps the only silver lining here is that the killer BART cops have presumably been furloughed.

[CreekDog]

29. actually no. The officer that shot Grant was jailed and Pirone was fired.

so the two officers disciplined or prosecuted in the Oscar Grant shooting haven't been furloughed, they aren't even part of the BART police force anymore.

[KamaAina]

31. I meant the rest of them

there was also the small matter of the homeless drunk guy being gunned down right on the platform at Civic Center.

[lunatica]

40. I didn't know people are being gunned down by BART workers!

Jesus! Now everything that BART does and the police do is because of the unions?!

Do you know how insane you sound?

[cosmicone]

41. She is right. It really did happen. n/t

[lunatica]

42. The union gunned down a person?

Really?

[KamaAina]

44. Union members did

that is an important distinction.

But yeah, it happened.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?id=8229848

There is new information about an incident Sunday night in which BART officers shot and killed a man at the Civic Center station in San Francisco.

Just one minute after arriving at the Civic Center station, officers fired their shots at the suspect. One of the officers has six years on the force, the other has 18 months on the job. BART's police chief is defending their actions, saying that the BART police force is not overly aggressive....

Two officers responded to a call of a wobbly drunk on the platform around 9:45 p.m. ABC7 has learned at least three shots were fired just one minute after the officers arrived on scene.

"Within a minute they reported to dispatch shots fired," said BART Police Lt. Dan Hartwig. "The suspect was down, the officers were not determined to be injured at the time."

[KamaAina]

43. She is a he

kama'aina means "local person" as opposed to "outsider" in Hawaiian: literally "child of the land". Guess where I was when I joined DU?

[cosmicone]

45. I apologize

I should get more educated that not every name that ends in an A is feminine!

Thanks for the heads up and meaning of your sobriquet.

[lunatica]

36. Are you saying the BART workers shut off the cell phones?

Because I don't think they did. BART is the company the union members work for.

[Ash_F]

37. Shhhh, you're interrupting the propaganda. /nt

[Ash_F]

2. Not right wing?

"They're already the top-paid transit system employees in the region and among the best in the nation. They also have free pensions, health care coverage for their entire family for just $92 a month and the same sweet medical insurance deal when they retire after just five years on the job."

Then why start the first paragraph with such blatant propaganda? Who retires after 5 years of working? Give me a break.

[alp227]

5. Maybe they mean a worker earns that insurance after 5 years on the job.

And according to the BLS the average train operator makes about $46k/year

http://www.bls.gov/ooh/transportation-and-material-moving/train-engineers-and-operators.htm

[Ash_F]

6. I know. That's what makes it propaganda.

When you write in such a manipulative way.

Even the second paragraph is nothing but propaganda. They only work 37 1/2 hours? No really? Organizations schedule their workers under 40 hours to avoid them going into over time if there is an emergency and they need to stay a little longer to cover something. But in this case it must be because the workers are lazy right?

And oh no, 22 dollars a hour before taxes and payed into benefits... in San Francisco.

[CreekDog]

3. enough is enough after 1 day? what's the matter with you?

you don't speak for me, not for a moment.

[Ash_F]

7. Most businesses provide services to regular people

If that is your reasoning then there should be no unions at all, which would benefit some.

...but not regular people.

[CreekDog]

9. Do you think worker rights were only advanced by convenient strikes?

you seem to think worker rights have been advanced by or are only justified by strikes by workers who stop doing things that nobody depends on or needs.

has it occurred to you that they are giving up pay and whatever raise BART is offering (not really a raise) by going on strike?

in other words, the deal they've been offered is such that they'd rather go without pay than live with the new contract for 4 more years.

also, when was their last pay raise? 5 years ago.

please don't post anti-worker/anti-labor/anti-union stuff at DU. they have a right to strike unless they are covered by a contract which prevents it (the contract has now expired) or a law that prevents a strike.

[Skeeter Barnes]

11. You don't see the stupidity in striking for a day or two only to vote yes on acontract the next day?

Just come out and say it. You think these working class people have no business making the money they do and should get their lazy asses back to work. You would like it if they were prohibited from striking for any length of time. They should just be glad to have a job, especially in this economy!

That's what the Democratic party has turned into. One that is sympathetic to management and openly hostile to workers.

Trying to make working class people out to be the villain for wanting a fucking raise after going years without one... "Holding hostage"... Fuck you, asshole.

[alp227]

17. I think the unions have legitimate grievances.

And I hate to blame the BART workers, but do you not realize how many people's lives have been ruined by the strike? What happened to empathy especially since most private sector workers can't really get a 23% raise over 4 years? I think they should get a raise but not with all this drama that has gone down recently and with all of BART's fiscal and infrastructural obligations like upgrading train cars.

[Skeeter Barnes]

21. "Lives ruined" Oh, come on FFS.

Having a life threatening illness or drug/alcohol abuse is the kind of thing that ruins lives. Dealing with the inconvenience of a longer commute is not ruining lives. People can take the bus, walk, ride a bike, drive a car or get a ride with a co worker, or just take a few days vacation while the strike is on.

You realize the "empathy" you're advocating for results in nobody getting a raise? Why don't we all just empathize our way to poverty level wages so the boss can make more? That would be the thoughtful, caring thing to do!

You think they should get a raise but how? Workers have to take action if the company will not be reasonable so don't blame them. Blame the "drama" on the people in charge and stop posting your goddamn anti Union propaganda. Those workers haven't done a damn thing to you or anybody else. This is what it takes for working class people to get a good wage. Can you not understand that?

"What happened to empathy"... un.fucking.believable ... You are what passes for a Democrat these days. A boot licking, anti Union Reagan Dem.

[alp227]

22. I've heard a theory that management LIHOP.

In order to turn the public against the union.

so I guess this whole strike brought out the first world problems in everyone.

I do think management has f___ed up the workers here. What happened to being open minded though? Do you not deny the editorial's facts like BART needing upgrades & other financial obligations?

but I wonder WHAT is going to wake up america & make them realize they are losing their rights as workers. I don't know how many minds this strike will change because many in the bay area are looking at themselves primarily. I'm telling ya, undoing 3 decades of anti union politics sadly is an uphill battle.

[Skeeter Barnes]

23. You are full of it. The "fact" is management will always cry poor mouth at contract time.

Oh, but we need expensive upgrades and maintenance done so we don't have the money for raises! The boss NEVER has money for raises. If you wait for them to tell you they now have some money for the workers, you'll wait so long that inflation will have passed you by and made your raise worthless! You will be losing ground. That is why you have to Organize and Strike!

But you knew that anyway.

Don't blame these workers and try to spread your resentment of them and then feign concern for Unions to me.

Union workers helped Obama win some states in the election. Keep shitting on them and see how those future elections turn out.

[alp227]

30. Speaking of BART, it's been known a LONG time dating back to 2010 they needed upgrades

see this 2010 news article http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/the-high-price-of-barts-expansion/Content?oid=2126246

Hmm it seems that BART is out on a CYA misinformation campaign to manipulate public opinion and wanted to goad the unions into striking. Why else would BART filibuster any discussion of safety issues that workers wanted?

BART Management = the cartoon character. Thanks so much for correcting me. I'm a guy who came of age during Dim Son's Administration, so I think I am ill informed in a lot of labor related issues.

[KamaAina]

26. Sounds about right.

Otherwise they would have asked Gov. Brown to declare a mandatory 60-day cooling-off period.

[KamaAina]

27. Walk from Oakland to San Francisco?

Or even bike? Seven miles across the Bay Bridge??

The buses are all slammed. Many of my friends up there have disabilities and don't drive. For those who use wheelchairs, no carpooling, and two seats per bus. Oh, sure. Just burn your vacation for the year. What happens when that runs out? We already have a 60% unemployment rate.

And no, I am not defending management. I propose that all future negotiations be held inside a steel cage. Whoever comes out alive gets to write the contract.

[Gormy Cuss]

38. I support the strikers but many commuters can't walk, bike, drive or ride share in BART's absence.

Those that can are using alternative (and much slower) means of getting about but unfortunately there are many commuters who just can't get from home to work without BART. That's a failing of the MTC and the balkanized mass transit in the Bay area.

[Gormy Cuss]

24. Effective strikes always inconvenience people. That's why the tool is used.

I get really ticked off when I'm inconvenienced by strikes but I understand that it's the way unions get attention for their issues. BART gave three days notice which is better than the MBTA did when I lived in Boston. They called a strike in the middle of the work day so we all had to fend for ourselves. THAT strike was really stupid because so many people were stranded.

What's stunning is how little there is in terms of alternatives for East Bay residents when BART goes on strike. It took me an hour just to figure out what my limited alternatives were yesterday. There just isn't a good way to get most places without a car.

[KamaAina]

25. You're out in Concord, right? Yup, you're screwn.

No bus over the hill. Same goes for someone in Oakland trying to get out to Walnut Creek or Pleasanton.

[Gormy Cuss]

28. Yep, no mass transit through the Caldecott tunnel.

Theoretically one could take County Connection to WestCAT to AC Transit but that would probably take about 3 hours. Trying to go south to circumnavigate the hills would be even more ridiculous.

Of course, those trying to drive through the Caldecott during rush hour have a very slow slog too.

[Lordquinton]

8. We are pro-union here

but the dialogue always gets laid out to discuss what the union's actions are doing to everyone, and we forget that they are only a part of the equation, and usually the part that's trying to preserve what they have, they know how slippery this slope is, If the transit authority was so worried about this strike, maybe they shouldn't have forced it to happen.

And I am someone who is affected by this strike.

[WilliamPitt]

10. "there's a time when ENOUGH IS ENOUGH with this strike isn't there?"

...cuz strikes are only effective when they have no effect.

[Skeeter Barnes]

12. alp227 quote "Holding other workers hostage" = Union busting "divide and conquer" propaganda.

[Starry Messenger]

13. The Merc is an anti-union rag and has been for ages.

Bay Area News Group bought up all the papers in the Bay Area years ago. Bay Area News Group has punished union activity in their own ranks:

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/07/25/18519758.php

For ten months Bay Area News Group (BANG) executives threatened journalists with pay freezes and cuts in benefits if they organized a unit for collective bargaining on pay, benefits and work conditions. Despite an anti-union campaign by management, non-supervisory news workers voted in June to form a unit of the Northern California Media Workers Guild.

Less than one month later, at least 20 journalists who had been visibly supportive of organizing a union were summarily terminated.

Last week the Guild filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, calling the firings retaliatory and citing other anti-union actions against the newly formed unit.

The 230-member Bay Area News Group East Bay (BANG-EB) bargaining unit includes the Oakland Tribune and other East Bay papers, as well as the San Mateo County Times on the peninsula. Among those terminated was Sara Steffens, newly elected chair of the unit and one of the main Guild organizers.

<snip>

More on the union-busting tactics of BANG: http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/the-anti-union-network/for-profit-union-busters/dean-singleton-media-consolidator-unionbuster.html

<snip>

Mean Dean's Latest Attack: Northern California

July 26, 2007: MediaNews Group announced consolidation of several union-represented papers and non-union newspapers in northern California. Papers are consolidated into a 'new' media group: Bay Area News Group-East Bay. BANG-EB is a subsidiary company of the larger MediaNews Group.

On August 13, 2007, MediaNews Group unilaterally withdraws recognition of the Northern California Media Workers Guild as the bargaining representative for 125 union-represented copy editors, photographers, and reporters at five Northern California newspapers: Oakland Tribune, The Daily Review, The Argus, Tri-Valley Herald, and San Mateo County Times. The union had been in place since 1987. A letter from MediaNews Group's attorney simply states, "We can no longer recognize the guild."

Later that week in response, the union files charges with the National Labor Relations Board against MediaNews Group to protest the company's clear violation of labor law in withdrawing union recognition, despite the union's 20 year history at the papers.

August 20, 2007: Northern California Media Workers Guild announces new organizing campaign to help win back union rights and attract new members who now work for the Bay Area News Group-East Bay.

This is what we get with corporate journalism. Don't be fooled by their anti-union distortions. Your reaction is exactly what they want.

[senseandsensibility]

15. Thanks for this.

Most large daily papers are very anti-union.

[alp227]

16. No wonder BANG publishes a lot of anti union editorials.

http://www.mercurynews.com/editorials/ci_17438647

http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_21444739/mercury-news-editorial-deceptive-prop-32-would-worsen

Above link: "Public employee unions have far too much power in California politics."

[Starry Messenger]

18. It's a shame too.

They have a wide influence in the entire region.

[KamaAina]

20. The Merc was once among the finest papers in the land.

Now? Well, I have a couple of friends who need liner for their cat boxes.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

14. derp

[Sivafae]

32. I am union, and I have no sympathy for them.

Sorry, I just can't muster it. I work a 10 hour day with no lunch or break legally given to me. I am an IHSS worker, although not all of my hours are IHSS. I make $11.50 per hour with no vacation or sick days to speak of. I pay the Union $22 a month so that I can wait 7 to 21 days to receive my paycheck. I depend on BART everyday to get to work. When Bart works, it takes me 45 mins to get to work, now I have to spend and extra HOUR to get where I need to go.

I don't agree with a lot of what is being said in this thread. BART is a municipal service provide by the people, for the people. We are not some greedy corporation that is holding out raises while the corporation makes records profits.

Whoever posted that the average train operator makes about 44,000 a year was misleading you. Train operators are making close to and over double that. We IHSS workers are begging for a simple 50 cent raise. I compare us because of the simple fact that we both have the same employer, the people.

So when whoever it was said that no ones live are really going to be THAT affected, think again. I am not looking forward to 14 hour days with 4 of those hours spent trying to get to and from work.

I have no sympathy for the BART workers. They need to get back to work and work it out with management.

[alp227]

33. Are you talking about this Bureau of Labor Stats page about train operators?

http://www.bls.gov/ooh/transportation-and-material-moving/train-engineers-and-operators.htm

[CreekDog]

34. I'll support your request on ONE condition

I'll support BOTH you and BART workers.

If you ask me to support you and to oppose them, forget it. I'm walking.

You'll be on your own.

Which is it?

Oppose you both or support you both?

Which would you like me, a member of the public to do, it's your choice.

[Ash_F]

35. IHSS does good work.

I am sorry the people of your state don't value it more.

[Romulus Quirinus]

39. This OP is terrible.