SAN FRANCISCO — Minutes before a state-ordered 60-day cooling off period was set to expire on Thursday night, negotiators for employees of the Bay Area’s main commuter railroad said they would stay at the bargaining table, temporarily averting a major transit strike. þþ“We will continue bargaining through the weekend,” said Roxanne Sanchez, president of the Service Employees International Union Local 1021, in a statement just before the 11:59 p.m. deadline. þþThe union is one of two representing employees of the Bay Area Rapid Transit System, which carries about 400,000 commuters each day between San Francisco and the East Bay. þþMs. Sanchez said significant developments during a long day of negotiating had persuaded the unions to extend the talks, including an expectation that BART’s general manager, Grace Crunican, would be present at the bargaining table beginning Friday morning. þþBut, she said, the extension was temporary and added, ÿIf there is no agreement by midnight on Sunday, Oct. 13, workers will be forced to strike.” þþEmerging from the negotiations, which had continued throughout the afternoon and evening, Thomas Hock, the lead negotiator for BART, said, “We’ll be back here tomorrow at 10 a.m.” þþHe confirmed that he had been authorized by the BART board to present a new offer, but he said the unions had asked him not to do so Thursday night. þþTense negotiations began shortly after noon on Thursday at the Caltrans building in Oakland. James K. Allison, a spokesman for BART, said that a mediator was shuttling between union negotiators on the 13th floor and the BART negotiating team on the 15th floor. þþEarly Wednesday, both sides had indicated that they were close to reaching a settlement. But on Wednesday night, union leaders accused BART negotiators of withdrawing their offer and shattering “the fragile framework of an agreement.” þþMr. Allison, however, said that the notion that BART had withdrawn a proposal was “categorically untrue” and that the confusion had been caused by a misunderstanding on the part of a mediator. þþThe extension of negotiations allows Bay Area commuters at least a brief reprieve from a potentially crippling strike, one that could be far worse than the four-day walkout that left commuters stranded in early July. þþThe two unions, representing 2,400 employees, including train operators, station agents, mechanics, clerical workers and others, have fought to retain their comparatively generous health benefits and pensions. This month, both sides indicated that an agreement might have been reached on the pension portion of a contract, but disagreements over wages, health benefits and other issues remained. Negotiators are barred from publicly discussing specifics of the negotiations. þþTrain operators and station agents earn, on average, more than $60,000 in annual salary and more than $11,000 in overtime, according to BART. Under state law, BART’s workers have a right to strike, unlike transit workers in many other cities around the country, including San Francisco. þ
Source: NY Times
