BART, unions end strike with tentative agreement 'Half an inch apart': Managers and unions work with mediator

John Arantes of the SEIU announces that BART management and its unions reached a tentative deal to end a four-day strike. John Arantes of the SEIU announces that BART management and its unions reached a tentative deal to end a four-day strike. Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 49 Caption Close BART, unions end strike with tentative agreement 1 / 49 Back to Gallery

It's over - and just in time to ease Tuesday morning's commute. The four-day BART strike ended Monday night with a tentative agreement between the transit agency and its two largest unions.

Some trains were expected to be running on all lines at 4 a.m. Tuesday morning, but full service wasn't to be restored until later in the day, probably in time for the afternoon commute.

"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 BART general manager Grace Crunican, who would not release details of the contract because the unions had not had a chance to present it to their members.

The two sides resumed bargaining Sunday through federal mediator Greg Lim. They had made enough progress by Monday morning to gather later in the day at Oakland's Metrocenter, headquarters of the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

The agreement is subject to ratification by the unions' members and the BART board of directors.

More than a dozen politicians, including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and state Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, appeared in time for the announcement of the settlement.

"This has got to be the last time that this happens," Newsom said in stressing the chaos the strike caused Bay Area commuters and noting the dysfunctional relationship between BART and its employees. "This was a reminder this weekend that this was about people. Lots of people have had their lives affected by this."

Negotiations picked up Sunday evening after the unions released a proposal that offered to end the dispute by modifying contract language that BART contends has prevented technological advances and enshrined inefficiencies. The union offer proposed to allow for work-rule changes regarding technology but to retain rules on safety.

Work rules at issue

Disagreement over work rules, which make up much of BART's 470-page contract with its two largest unions, provoked the strike, which began Friday.

The union proposal came the day after a train being used by BART managers struck and killed two workers inspecting tracks between the Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill stations. Before the strike, BART officials acknowledged they were training managers to possibly operate trains during a work stoppage. Union officials had said that practice is unsafe and filed suit in Alameda County Superior Court to stop it.

"We don't want it to be forgotten that two lives have been lost," said Amalgamated Transit Union President Antonette Bryant after the agreement was reached.

The strike took its toll on the Bay Area commute Monday.

San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Director Ed Reiskin said Muni had been able to "surge" some capacity on lines that parallel BART, but both he and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee stressed that such supplemental service is not sustainable if the strike continues.

Reiskin said Muni added service to its Mission Street corridor - the 14-Mission buses and J-Church metro trains - and saw a 22 percent increase in ridership, or about 10,000 extra passengers, on those lines alone Monday morning. In addition to extra bus drivers, Muni has had to add parking control officers to keep traffic moving.

"We added 16 buses and extra service on overtime," he said. "For us the surge is not sustainable, it's expensive, and even with it, we can't make a huge dent for the tens of thousands of people who ride BART."

Reiskin said the four-day BART strike in July cost the city $450,000. It hopes to get reimbursed by the regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

Charter buses scramble

In the East Bay, BART charter buses picked up passengers at nine stations.

BART spokeswoman Luna Salaver told Bay City News that 114 buses had carried about 5,900 passengers into San Francisco. The free buses were mostly filled by 7:15 a.m., she said.

On the San Francisco Bay Ferry, commuters filled the 12 vessels in service Monday morning.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Marisa Lagos contributed to this report.