BART directors OK extending contracts with unions

BART directors approved labor agreements with the transit agency’s three largest unions Thursday — a move to assure passengers and voters that no strike is forthcoming.

The Board of Directors voted 7-2, with Directors Zakhary Mallett and Joel Keller opposed, to approve the agreements, which extend current contracts, set to expire in 2017, until 2021. The extension comes with raises of 2.5 percent the first two years of the contract and 2.75 percent the last two years. The cost of the extensions is $85.9 million over four years, about $15 million more than the transit system had projected to spend.

Mallett opposed the agreement because, he said, it put off dealing with important issues, including benefits. Keller said he was concerned about whether BART could afford the cost of the contracts.

Members of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Service Employees International Union, and American Federation of State, Municipal and County Employees locals that represent most BART workers ratified the agreements earlier this week.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan