San Francisco/Bay Area Possible BART Strike
 

Please be aware that there is the possibility of a BART strike beginning at 12:01 a.m. on August 5, 2013 (Monday). The unions have promised to give a 72 hr. notice if they intend to strike. That notice would come tonight if the strike is scheduled for Monday.

There was a 4 1/2 day strike earlier this summer and alternate transportation is very difficult.
The official Bart website is www.bart.gov. A better place to get the latest news is the website of the San Francisco Chronicle at www.sfgate.com.

The BART folks are the last ones that should strike.

They are paid more than any other transit agency sverage salary in the State, including Caltrain. They are also paid more than any county employee average salary in the state.

With an average salary of $60k+, with pensions and health care mostly paid for, that makes their equivalent salary of $74k.

That's for the guy that sells you tickets and for agents at stations.

Any one else think that this is a tad too high?

Absolutely. They are paid 30K more than people in same jobs in LA. They are also one of the few transit agencies allowed to strike. Being able to take a sick day and then earn overtime the next day is ridiculous. How do you earn overtime when you have only worked 32 hours total?

I got on the first train out after the last strike and, as usual, it was filthy.

BART unions have announced they will be going on strike as of 12:01 am on August 5.
They are still in negotiations over the weekend.

>>> Being able to take a sick day and then earn overtime the next day is ridiculous. How do you earn overtime when you have only worked 32 hours total?<<<

Overtime when someone works more than 8 hrs a day is the way it has calculated for all California hourly workers not under a union contract. It was that way all the way back to at least Gov Reagan's days - except for a very brief period late in Wilson's term when he signed a law that overtime will only be paid if they work more than 40 hours a week. Davis signed a law early in his brief term that put it back to greater than 8 hrs a day for overtime.

I retired in July '99, so I don't know if the laws have been changed again - I doubt it.

Stu Dudley

BART has a very high absentee rate (1 in 8 workers calls in sick every day). So a worker can have Monday , Tuesday as his regular days off. He calls in "sick" on Sunday. Then he works on Monday (filling in for someone else who has called in sick). He has worked 40 hours but 8 of the 40 have been at time and a half.
The overtime costs are out of control. They need to mange all these unexcused absences.
I have read that some workers are taking up to 40 paid sick days a year, plus vacations and holidays.

Our office is getting ready for the strike, organizing carpools, making sure employees who take BART can be replaced, if needed.

It will be a huge mess if they go on strike. The locals that are used to public transit may find shuttles or buses, maybe rent cars - but what about the tourists, BART connects the city with 2 international airports SFO and OAK, though October it's a major tourist season... who the homeless will hit up for spare change :)

Does anyone else remember that BART, at one time, admitted that it is cheaper to pay its workers overtime than it is to hire enough people to have the system fully staffed. Taking that into account, is it fair to say that BART'S workers could not work overtime if it weren't available? Personally, I have started to see a pattern with BART. Have you noticed that they always cry broke just before contract negotiations. Has anyone else noticed that? And their managers seem to get a bonus sometime soon after contracts are negotiated. I like BART quite a bit but I'm starting to think the it's possible those greedy BART workers aren't the ones I should be trashing. I might be in the minority with that viewpoint right now but that's the way I see it.

The BART strike was averted.

Postponed till next Monday.