BART, the nation's fifth-busiest rail system, was still running Tuesday as the transit system's unions and management agreed to continue to negotiate throughout the night. However, although both sides managed to avoid a strike, the threat still remains that union workers will walk off their jobs if a contract deal is not reached.
Shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday, federally appointed mediator George Cohen announced that BART and union representatives will continue contract negotiation talks Tueaday morning and later on in the afternoon. As a result, BART train service will not be interrupted for the San Francisco Bay Area's estimated 400,000 riders.
Union workers are currently considering a proposal presented by BART management on Sunday, which is $7 million higher than one made Friday, reports the San Jose Mercury News. According to BART General Manager Grace Crunican, their proposal increased its four-year offer for pay hikes from 10.25 percent to 12 percent and calls for employees to make a 4 percent pension contribution and 9.5 percent medical contribution. The deal gives unions two weeks from Sunday to vote on whether to approve it or not.
Pete Castelli, the executive director of Service Employees International Union Local 1021, said he could not share details of the counter offer but said, "We did make movement," reports NBC Bay Area.
Meanwhile, as BART managers continue to work out a deal with workers, Bay Area residents learned of another potential commuting crisis after the AC Transit threatened to go on strike if a deal was not reached before Thursday. The AC Transit bus workers are responsible for carrying around 200,00 riders a day, however a double-strike later this week would strand 300,000 people who ride BART and AC Transit round trip each day -- or 8 percent of all Bay Area commuters.
"It's the worst of all possible worlds," said John Goodwin, a spokesman for the 511 traffic service.
The AC Transit strike threat came as a surprise after the bus line and its union twice came to tentative agreements after their contract expired at the end of June. But bus drivers and other union members rejected both deals.