BART agrees to 4-year deal with workers amid push for funding

BART and its workers union agreed to a new 4-year contract.

BART and its workers union agreed to a new 4-year contract. Photo: Laura A. Oda, Associated Press Photo: Laura A. Oda, Associated Press Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close BART agrees to 4-year deal with workers amid push for funding 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

BART and its three major unions secretly negotiated and agreed to a tentative four-year contract extension that prevents the possibility of a worker strike in the near-term, just as the transit agency is planning to head to the ballot this fall and ask voters for a massive $3.5 billion bond measure to help pay for rebuilding the aging system.

The new labor deal was to be announced at a news conference Monday at BART headquarters, with representatives from management and the three major transit unions in attendance. Those unions include SEIU Local 1021, ATU Local 1555 and AFSCME Local 3993.

The new contract, which was negotiated during secretly held meetings between the two sides in recent weeks, replaces the current contract that was set to expire next year. That contract was won only after the union workers twice walked off the job during negotiations in 2013, leaving thousands of riders stranded and scrambling for a limited bus service that replaced it.

According to a BART source, the new pact calls for nearly 11 percent in total worker raises over the next four years. The deal includes a pair of 2.5-percent hikes over the next two years, followed by two 2.75-percent raises in each of the following two years.

“That means there won’t be a strike at least until 2021,” said one BART source, assuming union members ratify the deal in the coming days.

One big argument for negotiating the settlement early was for both the unions and management to clear the path for the successful passage of a new general obligation bond in November asking voters in San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties for new property taxes to pay for rebuilding BART.

The measure requires two-thirds voter approval for passage, but already has been facing tough questioning from the likes of state Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, and other East Bay elected officials who have been demanding BART impose a no-strike clause in any future contract.

BART insiders say that was never in the cards, though assuring the public there won’t be a strike in the next four years could at least take the issue off the table for the forseeable future.

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or e-mail matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross