SF transit agency, unions reach deal to end strike
By LISA LEFF and SUDHIN THANAWALA
20 hours ago
With the BART transit system on
strike, people line up along the Embarcadero near the Ferry Building to
catch a ferry to Oakland, Calif., during the afternoon commute Monday,
Oct. 21, 2013, in San Francisco. Frustrated bay area commuters started
the work week Monday facing gridlocked roadways and long lines for buses
and ferries as a major transit strike entered its fourth day,
increasing pressure on negotiators to reach a deal that resumes train
service. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Union officials announced the deal, which still requires approval from union members, then from the Bay Area Rapid Transit's board of directors.
BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said limited service would begin Tuesday at 4 a.m. on all lines. BART officials hoped trains would be running at full strength in time for the afternoon commute.
BART is the nation's fifth-largest rail system, with an average weekday ridership of 400,000.
Workers walked off the job on Friday after talks broke down. Commuters endured jammed roadways and long lines for buses and ferries, as they looked for alternate ways around the region.
The talks between BART and its two largest unions dragged on for six months— a period that saw two chaotic dayslong strikes, contentious negotiations and frazzled commuters wondering if they would wake up to find the trains running or not.
"The public expects us to resolve our differences and to keep the Bay Area moving," BART general manager Grace Crunican said Monday night.
Crunican said there would be no immediate announcements on the details while union leaders explained the agreement to their members, but she said it was a compromise and added: "This deal is more than we wanted to pay."
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Strike over: Bay Area transit workers reach compromise with management
A transit strike that for four days halted normal commutes in San Francisco has ended, but the deal was not immediately released
Striking Bart workers picket on Friday in Oakland. Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
A transit strike that crippled the San Francisco Bay Area has ended, raising hopes of a swift return to normality after four days of commuting chaos.
Union leaders and managers of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (Bart) system agreed a tentative deal late on Monday; service is expected to slowly come back on line over the course of Tuesday.
The stand-off had paralysed the US's fifth-largest commuter rail system, which has an average weekday ridership of 400,000. Gridlocked roads and long queues for buses and ferries caused widespread disruption and recrimination since Bart workers walked off the job last Friday in a dispute over pay and conditions, and both sides were under immense pressure to come to an agreement.
"This offer is more than we wanted to pay but it is a new path with our workers and it delivers the Bart of the future," said the agency's general manager, Grace Crunican, after emerging from negotiations on Monday.
The standoff had paralysed the US's fifth-largest commuter rail system, which has an average weekday ridership of 400,000. Photograph: Eric Risberg/AP
Details of the deal were not immediately released, and it is still pending ratification by Bart's board of directors and members of the Employees International Union Local 1021 and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555. The accord was brokered by a federal mediator, Greg Lim. A previous strike in July had halted services for four days.
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