BART strike could create transit chaos Commuters urged to brace for gridlock, transit chaos

BART turnstiles could be dormant if the system suffers a workers' strike and is forced to cancel its 400,000 daily rides. The labor action could come Monday when union pacts expire. BART turnstiles could be dormant if the system suffers a workers' strike and is forced to cancel its 400,000 daily rides. The labor action could come Monday when union pacts expire. Photo: Stephen Lam, The Chronicle Photo: Stephen Lam, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close BART strike could create transit chaos 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

With a BART strike appearing increasingly possible, Bay Area transportation officials are urging commuters to start planning for the gridlock and chaos that could be unleashed on Monday morning.

Labor agreements with BART and its five unions expire at midnight Sunday, and while there's been a lot of interaction in recent days between the transit agency and its labor unions, much of it has taken place away from the bargaining table and has been decidedly antagonistic.

BART's two largest unions, representing train operators, station agents, mechanics and maintenance workers, are set to take a strike authorization vote Tuesday. It is likely to pass, giving union leaders the authority to order a work stoppage. The law does not require the unions to give notice before walking off the job, but BART's unions have typically given the agency and public a 72-hour notice.

Both sides insist they want to avert a strike. BART negotiators met with Service Employees International Union Local 1021, which represents 1,430 mechanics and maintenance workers late into the night Friday, said BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost, and reached agreements on eight issues. Negotiations with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555, which represents train operators and station agents, took place Monday afternoon.

Still some optimism

"We are not ready to talk about strike contingencies," Trost said. "We think there is a deal to be had."

Antonette Bryant, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555, which represents 945 train operators and station agents, also declined to discuss the possibility of the unions shutting down BART, which gives commuters 400,000 rides each weekday.

"What we want is to bargain," she said. "We're not interested in talking about a strike."

Regional transportation officials are warning commuters to be prepared for a strike and plan ahead. Randy Rentschler, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Bay Area's transportation planning and financing agency, said the region's other transit operators will meet Tuesday to discuss a strategy if BART workers walk off the job, but whether AC Transit, which provides bus service across the bay, will help is up in the air.

Be prepared

The union representing its drivers has approved a strike authorization vote, and the contract for those drivers also expires on Sunday.

In the past, transit agencies have tried to accommodate extra commuters by boosting transbay and Peninsula bus service, increasing ferry service from the East Bay and encouraging more carpooling. Some transit agencies, such as Caltrain and Muni, are already carrying full loads during the commutes.

"There are seats on buses into the city and lots of empty seats in cars," Rentschler said, "and we will try to take advantage of those. But there aren't 400,000 empty seats. BART is a major high-capacity system, and it can't be replaced. Any BART stoppage is going to put some pain on folks."

The Amalgamated Transit Union and SEIU filed a lawsuit against BART Monday in Alameda County Superior Court seeking an unfair labor practices declaration and alleging that the transit agency is failing to bargain in good faith on safety issues, which the unions have emphasized. BART denied those accusations and accused the unions of trying to shift attention away from compensation issues.

Pension contributions

BART is seeking to persuade its employees to start contributing to their pensions and to increase their monthly health insurance payments, which are now a flat $92 regardless of the plan or the number of people covered. It also wants to reduce overtime expenses by changing work rules so that employees who call in sick one day are not paid overtime if they work an extra day. The transit agency said it needs to rein in costs as part of its effort to raise its share of the $15 billion it needs to pay for new rail cars, a modernized train maintenance facility and an improved train control system.

BART has fabricated its budget to obscure the fact it's generating a $125 million operating surplus, the unions contend. Workers, who went without raises for the past five years, deserve some of that money, the unions say, not only to make up for doing without but to reward them for soaring ridership and reliability rates of about 96 percent.

The unions have proposed 5 percent annual raises over the next three years with an annual cost of living adjustment. BART estimates that as a 23.2 percent raise. The transit district has offered a 1 percent raise each year of a four-year agreement. Most train operators and stations agents are paid annual salaries in the low- to mid-$60,000 range, though BART says they are also paid an average of $16,590 in overtime pay. The last BART strike, which lasted six days, was in September 1997.