Senate candidate Glazer says unions campaign illegally at BART

BART management said Monday it will investigate charges that union employees engaged in illegal political campaigning on behalf of state Senate candidate Susan Bonilla at agency facilities during work hours, a charge leveled by her Democratic opponent, Steve Glazer.

“Glazer’s allegations are of concern to us. ... The legal department and the office of the general manager will both be looking into it,” BART spokesman Jim Allison said. “We weren’t aware of what he said took place — and we wouldn’t condone improper activity.”

BART’s statement came just hours after Glazer, Bonilla’s opponent in the contentious Senate Seventh District special election in the East Bay, made the allegations against members of the Service Employees International Union at a press conference at BART headquarters. He displayed poster-size photographs of groups of BART employees from SEIU Local 1021 posing with Bonilla campaign signs inside what he said were the transit agency facilities in Concord, Hayward and Richmond.

Glazer is the Orinda mayor who has publicly called for an end to BART employees’ right to strike and has been critical of the system’s unions and management.

“For the past few weeks, BART has endured serious maintenance problems throughout the entire system, causing great havoc to hundreds of thousands,” Glazer said. “But during those past few weeks, it hasn’t stopped the BART workers and management from engaging in campaign activities against me in my Senate race.”

Allison confirmed the photos appear to be taken inside BART’s maintenance yards. If the investigation confirms that, he said, it would be a violation of BART’s code of conduct, which specifically states that “employees shall not engaged in political activity during work hours while on district premises, or while in uniform.”

“Most of the people in there were union members on their break,’’ said Pete Castelli, executive director of SEIU 1021, who said the activities were nothing more than “member communication.”

“It’s very typical in break rooms, people are allowed to talk about what they want ... there’s no prohibition,” Castelli said. “We’re not sure what the big deal is, other than Glazer trying to make hay out of it.”

The charges are the latest in what has been a nasty runoff to fill the Senate seat left vacant by Mark DeSaulnier, who was elected to Congress in November. The contest — to be decided May 19 — pits Bonilla, a favorite of labor, against Glazer, a favorite of business community, with both sides getting millions of dollars in help from independent expenditures.

Glazer said he was not calling Bonilla’s actions into question, but only those of the union members are on the job in taxpayer-funded facilities.

In response, Bonilla issued a statement Monday charging Glazer with using BART platforms and BART property “for electioneering” and “self-advertising” and said both he and the unions “should immediately stop using BART property for electioneering.”

But political candidates are allowed to campaign on BART premises with permits, Allison said, as a way of “accommodating First Amendments rights.” Allison confirmed that Glazer applied for and received the necessary permits to campaign at the transit stations.

Meanwhile, the investigation, he said, is unlikely to be concluded before the May 19 election.

Carla Marinucci is the San Francisco Chronicle senior political writer. E-mail: cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @cmarinucci