Hundreds of thousands of commuters in the San Francisco Bay Area faced traffic jams, crowded buses and packed out ferries Friday after BART workers walked off the job a little after midnight.
BART management and its unions have been in talks to work out a deal on a new contract for months. Although it seemed as if both sides were making progress this week, rail workers went on strike after a deadline to resolve contract negotiations passed without a deal, reports USA Today.
Everyday around 400,000 commuters depend on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), the nation's fifth largest rail system. However, travelers will now be forced to find other means in order to get to and from their jobs during this strike.
It was not clear when talks would resume after they broke off Thursday afternoon.
Friday morning, six picket lines circled the Lake Merritt BART Station in Oakland, with workers chanting, "No Contract, No Peace." A couple drivers yelled at the employees to "get back to work" while an AC Transit bus driver honked in support.
BART employee Brendan McIntyre, one of the striking workers, blamed management for inciting the strike.
"They won't give us a contract," he said, reports San Jose Mercury News. "They just want to take away our benefits and money -- everything we've got."
Cecille Isidro, spokeswoman for the local Service Employees International Union, said the strike was solely over work rules. However, BART officials said the unions were seeking a 15.9 percent wage increase over 4 years, compared to management's offer for a total 12 percent raise to add to the average union workers' gross pay of $76,500. The two sides had agreed, however, on BART's offer to raise pension contributions from zero to 4 percent, and increase monthly health care contributions from $92 to $144.
"The stakes are sky-high but the solutions are within reach," BART General Manager Grace Crunican said Friday. "The public needs the trains to run. We need a spirit of compromise from our unions."
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