SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Bay Area Rapid Transit workers entered the final day Tuesday before their strike deadline without a contract after meeting with management throughout the holiday weekend.þþAfter spending 26 hours locked in contract talks on Saturday and Sunday, negotiators returned to the bargaining table Monday evening for another late-night round of deliberations.þþThe two sides remain at odds over how big a raise workers should get and how much the transit system should pay for retiree medical benefits. The labor contract expired last Friday.þþIf the two sides do not agree, workers are set to walk off the job just after midnight Tuesday.þþBART management said the major sticking point was finding a compromise that would not further burden riders, who have already been hit with fare increases and parking charges.þþ''We're trying to resolve a $100 million, four-year deficit,'' said BART chief spokesman Linton Johnson. ''Riders have already helped cut the deficit in half. Now it's time for the employees to do the rest.''þþThe last time BART workers went on strike was in 1997, when the six-day walkout led to traffic headaches throughout the region. According to the agency's Web site, more than 300,000 trips are taken on BART in an average weekday.þþLarry Hendel, chief negotiator for the transit system's two largest unions, said he had his ''fingers crossed'' that a strike could be averted. Because the talks are being overseen by a state mediator, however, the exact content of the proposals remains confidential.þþ''We're far apart on issues of service and safety, medical benefits and wages,'' said Hendel, who represents 2,300 BART workers affiliated with Service Employees International Union Local 790 and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555. ''But we're planning to work through the night if necessary to reach a fair agreement without going to a strike.''þþ
Source: NY Times
