Local News

OAKLAND (CBS 5 / KCBS / BCN) ― Negotiations continued Wednesday in hopes of reaching a contract agreement between Bay Area Rapid Transit management and employee unions before a Thursday midnight deadline, although both sides said significant issues remained unresolved.

Contract talks between BART management and the transit agency's 2,824 union workers were going down to the wire once again, leaving Bay Area commuters hanging in the balance.

After previously missing a June 30 deadline, negotiators for both sides were working overtime to try to reach an agreement before Thursday's second deadline.

BART spokesman Linton Johnson said the talks, which began on April 1 and were in their 98th day, were "pretty much a marathon."

Johnson indicated that some progress had been made and he was "hopeful" that an agreement could be reached before the deadline, but he also warned that "we still have substantial ground to cover."

Johnson said management's priority remained trying to achieve $100 million in labor cost savings by having employees contribute more of the cost of their benefits, such as health care and retirement, and eliminating wasteful workplace rules.

He said BART wants to reduce its labor costs because it faces a projected $250 million deficit over the next four years.

"Now is the time for the union to step up to the plate and join the riders, and join the management in making those tough decisions to help us meet that $100 million target," said Johnson.

Jesse Hunt, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 — which represents about 900 train operators, station agents and power workers — agreed that progress had been made at the negotiating table.

But he suggested that BART officials should spend more time engaged in bargaining and less time trying to villify the unions in the media.

"I'm optimistic, as long as both parties continue doing the hard work at the negotiating table without undermining the positions in the press, which has certainly caused some troubles in the past," said Hunt.

As evidence of good-faith bargaining, Hunt noted that the BART unions had so far held off on issuing a 72-hour strike notice.

Under their existing contract, it calls for BART workers to give management 72 hours before they go on strike. If an agreement isn't reached by midnight on Thursday, the earliest the unions could go on strike would be next Monday.

Although members of BART's three largest labor unions voted last month to authorize a strike, Jean Hamilton, the president of Local 3993 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees — which represents about 200 middle managers — said the unions don't want to go on strike.

"There's lots of hard work going on and we're committed to trying to reach an agreement," she said. "I'm trying to be hopeful, but things change."

Hamilton added that the contract talks "sometimes move forward and sometimes move sideways."

She noted that any labor action "is dependent upon the district remaining at the table and bargaining in good faith."

Carlos Rivera, a spokesman for Local 1021 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents about 1,200 mechanics, custodians, safety inspectors and clerical employees, said, "We're focused on reaching an agreement by the deadline and we definitely don't want to go on strike."

Rivera predicted "it could be a late night Thursday" before an agreement is reached, but added that "deadlines make things move quicker."

Although the current four-year contract for BART union employees had been scheduled to expire at midnight on June 30, both sides agreed on June 27 to extend the deadline after state mediators became involved in the talks.

In addition to the three large unions involved in the contract talks, there are two smaller unions representing BART police officers and managers.

The BART Police Managers Association represents sergeants, lieutenants and commanders and the BART Police Officers Association represents rank-and-file officers.

However, members of the police unions are barred from going on strike.

(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)