Latest update on bart strike

Monday: If you want to follow along live, ABC7's live video is the way to go. One caveat: Having this on flashes back to last week, when we had night after night of waiting followed by late-night announcements of "we're still talking, no strike tomorrow. At the Metropolitan Transportation Commission where the announcement of a settlement is expected shortly. BARTstrike Oakland. Monday: If you've been away from the news for awhile, as I have -- I've been "commuting" for the last four and a half hours -- here's what you've missed: Lots of elected officials have shown up at Caltrans District 4 Headquarters Metropolitan Transportation Commission headquarters in Oakland as BART and its two biggest unions resumed contract negotiations with federal mediators today.

The list includes Lt. I can also tell you that Gov. Jerry Brown's in the area -- I saw him doing an interview down at the Clay Street ferry landing in Oakland around p. Not that he's necessarily directly involved in any of this. Update, 6 p. Allison specifically mentioned the work rules, which have been the sticking point in the talks. The goal here is not to Allison gave an example of a beneficial past practice: "System service workers who do the janitorial work at our stations, they cannot clean above where they can reach, standing on the ground.

They cannot use ladders So BART has to hire outside contractors to clean above the reach of our system service workers. Monday: Mike Rosenberg of the San Jose Mercury News reports , "An on-again-off-again gag order is back on, as both sides have declined to discuss any details from the table. The remaining issues are salary increases and various work rules for the system's 2, union workers The unions said they had released a new proposal on Sunday night but details of the offer have been kept under wraps.

Monday: The Associated Press is reporting that BART and its unions are resuming talks this afternoon, reportedly with an aim of getting trains running for the Tuesday morning commute. Here's part of the report from AP's Lisa Leff:. Other reports also suggested the two sides would return to bargaining today.

Officials for BART and its striking unions are reportedly working with a federal mediator Monday to work out a settlement to the four-day-old strike. Because of the sensitive nature of crafting a deal both sides can live with, few details are available and no one is commenting publicly. Union and management sources say that they were in contact with a federal mediator over the weekend to discuss a possible end to the strike but that no face-to-face meetings had taken place.

On Sunday evening, the unions released a proposal that offered to end the dispute by modifying controversial contract language that BART contends has prevented technological advances and enshrined inefficiencies.

The union offer proposed to allow for work rule changes regarding technology but retain rules on safety. BART strike status as of 11 a. Monday: Walkout is in its fourth day. Talks: No new negotiations planned. The BART board canceled an emergency session planned for 3 p. The commute : Lots of traffic out there and long lines for all alternate transit.

The casual commute: One exception to the misery: the a. Update, 10 p. Sunday: BART's two biggest unions say they've sent the agency's management a new proposal aimed at ending the the three-day-old strike. The offer was announced in a press release that contained no detail of the offer, but said:. The new counterproposal allows for the continued use of new technology in the workplace but protects workers from changes in work rules that would lead to unsafe conditions.

At the same time, BART workers say, they will insist on retaining work rules to protect their members from workplace accidents, like the one that occurred yesterday, and that safeguard the riding public during normal revenue hours.

If you've been following the story, you know that contract talks under the auspices of federal mediators broke down last Thursday when the unions rejected BART's demand for sweeping changes in work rules.

The principal issue is in the area of "beneficial practices," a contract provision that bars management from unilaterally changing practices that have been in place without consulting the unions. BART says that's prevented it from implementing new technology in some instances — a contention the unions challenge.

Tonight's union message says Saturday's accident in which a BART train struck and killed two workers illustrates the importance of the work rules:. That's why we receive a lot of training and it's why there are a lot of work rules," said Saul Almanza, who trains workers on wayside safety procedures and protocols. We haven't seen any sign that BART has responded to the latest union message.

Sunday: No indication yet that the two sides are getting back together to talk, so it's likely at this point that the work stoppage will continue into a fourth day Monday. BART's board has scheduled a special closed session for 3 p. Monday, presumably to discuss the strike. That dispute over work rules, including issues like scheduling, overtime policies and protection for workers who complain about management conduct, scuttled negotiations on Thursday.

BART has rejected that suggestion, saying it would only consider submitting the entire agreement to arbitration. BART management has urged the unions to put its proposal to a vote. Agency officials have also said the offer is retroactive to July 5 — but only if both unions approve it within two weeks BART General Manager Grace Crunican announced the two-week limit last Sunday, then repeated it when talks broke down on Thursday. Before Wednesday night's dispute, union officials had expressed confidence that a new contract was within reach.

In an interview with KTVU, BART General Manager Grace Crunican said that surplus is to cover the agency's bond debt payments and capital expenses like replacing its aging fleet of train cars and improving infrastructure.

Update, p. Tuesday: Negotiations continue at Caltrans District 4 headquarters in Oakland. San Francisco Chronicle transportation reporter Michael Cabanatuan told KQED that reporters monitoring the talks say it's a little hard to tell exactly where the talks are between BART and union negotiators at this point: "There's a media blackout.

They've all agreed voluntarily that they won't talk to the media about what's going on at the table, but they all indicate that there's some progress being made, perhaps slow progress but progress nonetheless. The mood does seem a little different. It doesn't seem quite as somber or quite as angry, and that's a good indication. KQED's Andrew Stelzer reports that Bay Area business leaders are calling on employers to be prepared and be flexible in case talks break down.

Monday: Officials for BART's two biggest unions just announced that they will not issue a hour strike notice tonight and that talks with transit agency officials are continuing through state and federal mediators.

Officials for the BART chapter of SEIU Local and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local said they were holding off issuing a strike notice to preserve every option as a court-imposed cooling-off period gets set to expire later this week. Mike Rosenberg of the San Jose Mercury-News offers some context on past strike notices and on where the negotiations are now:.

The unions issued strike notices three days prior to a work stoppage in July and before a pending strike in August that was later averted. The announcements are not required, however, and unions left the door open for a possible walkout if a deal is not reached by Thursday night's deadline.

The strike notice is meant only as a courtesy so the , people who ride BART roundtrip each day could start looking for back-up plans to get around. Progress was reported last week, however, when both sides swapped a series of counterproposals after months where both sides barely blinked. Original post: The day cooling-off period in the BART labor standoff is set to expire late Thursday night, and new poll numbers show that Bay Area residents remain very unhappy with the prospect of a transit strike.

With negotiations continuing, there are new signs that the two sides may finally be closing the gap in the contract positions they've staked out. The main issues still to be resolved center on pay, pensions, and medical benefits. Talks continue today. One sign that the hardline positions in the standoff may be softening is that BART has apparently dropped plans to have supervisors run limited train service during a work stoppage.

In its latest update on strike planning, the agency says in the event of a strike, it's planning to run limited bus service from nine East Bay stations to San Francisco. The survey found that overall, 39 percent of respondents feel that BART management has made a better argument during the dispute, compared to 25 percent who think the unions have made a better case. The poll also found that 40 percent of respondents think unions should accept management's proposals, while 24 percent think BART should settle on the unions' terms.

Here's a summary of two sides' most recently reported positions:. Search-Icon Created with Sketch. KQED is a proud member of.

Always free. View Edit. Media Coverage The mass media surrounding the strikes focused mainly on the inconvenience to BART riders and on what they characterized as excessive demands on the part of BART unions, rather than on the real issues about worker compensation and benefits, and on the conflicting political motivations of BART District Board members.

August 1, 7pm- BART gives mandatory 72 hour notice that they may strike again. July 5th 3 pm — strike is OFF for 30 days, to allow renegotiation time. July 4th : a holiday, so no one cared! People are starting to forget that they can even go to San Francisco. July 3rd was another strike day. Who can even keep track anymore? July 2nd — As of late today, negotiations were underway, but no agreement was reached. As a result, the strike is expected to continue into a third day [ source ].

July 2nd is day 2 of the BART strike. City of Oakland workers returned to work. The weary citizens of the environs surrounding our fine bay struggled to heave themselves in any way possible to and fro across it in whichever way they could.