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In these final days of Gov. Jerry Brown’s “cooling off” period that temporarily halted the BART transit strike on Aug. 11, there’s still not much to cheer about other than both BART management and unions are talking occasionally.

BART spokesman Rick Rice’s email messages to city leaders last Monday says it all: the most recent union proposal wasn’t “game-changing.” The unions went from a 5% per year wage increase demand with a pension swap to 4.5% per year increases with a pension swap that still amounts to 17% over the next three years.

BART is demanding a four-year contract and if the unions’ new proposal is extrapolated over that period, it amounts to a 21.5% increase. BART’s current offer, still astounding by any private sector comparison, is for a 10% pay increase over the next four years.

The demands by BART’s unions for a 21% raise over three years is simply unaffordable for BART and unreasonable by any measure. Most workers in the private sector have had scant raises, if any, since the recession began several years ago and few companies are budgeting for significant pay increases now. Benefit plans in both the private and public sectors have been trimmed as well, including generous lifetime benefits once offered to state and municipal employees.

BART transit workers are among the highest paid in the industry. They do not contribute to their pension. BART workers pay approximately 5% of their annual healthcare premium, or just $92 a month no matter how many dependents they have. State workers contribute 20%.

BART General Manager Grace Crunican said the transit agency has moved $180 million from its initial offer to the unions last April 1. That offer stands and there’s no money to add more, she insists. She and her management team recognize that the days of bailouts from state and federal sources are over; the unions should recognize this, too. The Bay Area Rapid Transit system is now 40 years old. It moves about 400,000 people daily through 26 cities, including to and from Pleasanton.

BART’s “final” offer to its union employees of a 10% wage increase is too high to start with and certainly much more than the riders they serve can expect in the same four-year period ahead. The proposed benefit package also is overly generous, topping not only those working in the private sector but also those employed by state, regional, county and local governments, including Pleasanton’s, who have agreed to pay more of their benefit costs.

BART management says it’s reached the end of the road in negotiations. The unions must come to terms with what their employer and riders can afford and offer. If not, with the cooling off period ending Oct. 11, it may be time to start making plans to carpool, change the hours you’re needed at your jobs across the Bay or make arrangements to work at home. Let’s hope that in three weeks, there’s a settlement in place.

Pleasanton Weekly staff.

Pleasanton Weekly staff.

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12 Comments

  2. I find it amazing and interesting to watch that anyone would complain about their demands. After all we voted for extremely liberal friendly to labor people to represent us in Washington DC, Sacramento legislature and assembly and governor. Not to mention the fact that the BART board and supervisors are made up of very liberal and friendly to union people and then we acted shocked at the price tag of our voting records. We are the only major area of the country which I can think of where transit workers have the right to strike and shutdown the entire system. We wanted it, voted for it, and now we got want we asked for so lets just give me what they want and move on until the next strike by our worthless cops, firemen, city workers, etc. and then lets just give in there also. The chickens are coming home to roast as they say so lets not show mock anger over what we voted for.

  5. Friends of Friends will be operating a shuttle between Plutonia and San Francisco should their be a strike.

    It could be that a few of the drivers of private cars will be “illegals”.

    BEWARE!

  6. I always find it funny how these articles break down the unions proposals to include the pension requests. But managements offer of 10% is always represented as just that. There is never any mention of the 4% giveback to pension that management wants. No mention of the increase in medical that management wants. As it stands right now, managements offer would cause an employee with blue cross/blue shield to be in the negative. Do the math.

  8. All you have to do to conduct a question/answer show on BART trains is a telephone!

    That’s all I have and a fair to go back and forth to gather information.

    You can get off the train and ask questions anywhere along the line. Then you send in the passenger responses to the Union involved in negotiations with BART admin. and poof, the show is off ‘n running!

    Creative or What?

    Today I conducted 22 interviews. I’ll continue until I get too tired and I have what the TV stations need.

    Free of Change! HOORAY!

  9. BART management offer is too generous. These people have been overpaid for some time and it is time to get things back in wack. Free pension, extremely high medical insurance, high salaries, less than 40 hours per week considered full time, massive overtime, call in ‘sick’ and then work overtime on the same week.

    Provisions that should be fixed in this contract:
    1) Allow training of replacement workers while union workers on the job.
    2) Overtime only if you actually work more than 40 hours in the week (no counting sick or vacation time as time worked).
    3) Plan to get all employees paying the full employee share of the pension plan.

  10. ‘safety’ is the red herring, unless somebody knows about planned sabotage by the striking workers. The whole issue here is money with the union throwing in ‘safety’ to divert people’s attention away. If the union was truly concerned on safety, they would not have the provision in the contract that prevents bart from training replacement workers while workers are on strike.

  12. I am glad you brought up the point that the bart equipment is outdated and needs to be replaced, which will help safety also. This cannot happen if there is no money for purchasing replacement vehicles. The union wants the money that will be used for replacement equipment to instead be used for a huge raise for the union members. So there again you have the union saying that safety is a concern and at the same time want to ensure the safety items will not have any funding. Proving the union is not concerned on the safety of the riders.

    Every cent that goes to raises for the employees is money being taken away from new equipment that will bring greater safety and modernizing our aged fleet.

  13. To put a few numbers into the discussion, from the 2013 BART budget:

    Salaries $381M
    New equipment and improvements: $69M

    Yes, BART spends 5 1/2 times more money on salaries than they do on new equipment and improvements to existing facilities.

    I had no idea that labor was such a large piece of the revenue pie. It’s 57% of BART’s total operating budget.

  14. How about people not voting for left-wing loons that do stupid things like giving transit workers the right to strike. That would be solution #1. Solution #2 is to fire all the striking BART workers and replace them with new workers. It won’t be hard to find replacements. People need to just suck it up during the time needed to hire and train new workers.

  15. Time to start hiring replacement workers.

    I bet they wouldn’t have ANY trouble replacing most of the workers for LESS THAN the current workers are being paid, and probably get better workers to boot!!

  16. The Plutonia country Club had the same idea of firing all striking employees. What happened? The country club eventually had to eat crow and rehire them!

    It is legal for BART employees to strike. Prove that it isn’t.

    i’m waiting…

  17. Cholo, I fail to understand your repeated claims that the employees cannot strike, we all know that they can. The question is what is their issue? cuz for the majority of us, we feel it is unjustified based on the employee demands are out of line with a reasonable request. So I don’t mind if they strike, we will find other ways to get from point a to point b and life goes one. When they see they get no support from the public on their demands, they will adjust accordingly. In the meantime we are inconvenienced.

  18. Cholo,
    You have Freedom of Speech guaranteed by the Constitution. You also have the right to remain silent. If you can’t exercise the one responsibly, you might consider the other.

  19. Public Unions abuse of their power is excessive. When you can blackmail the public by shutdown down strategic transportation systems, that is way too much power. Public unions should be outlawed or regulated was to what they can and can not do. The Bart union
    should give back their unfair gains. They are one of the highest paid
    public employees in the entire nation, with IMHO one the overly generous
    pension systems anywhere. What did they do to deserve this? except to shutdown a critical key transportation system unless they get their way. The Bart Board should considering moving all non-critical jobs to a contractor base.
    Just for the record. I believe in strong unions…..they created the middle class….just not in public unions…..which sit on the same side of the table as the politicians.

    Mad as heck,
    H.

  21. BART General Manager gets a salary of $300,000.00 plus way cool PERKS!

    BART Negotiation earsn $399,000.00…tee hee hee…

    Have any of you whiners on BART’s side look forward to earning that kinda salary…NOT!

    tee hee hee…

  22. cholo, even you can see the difference between private and public sector unions, correct? Your comparison of the illegals working at Castlewood to choo-choo operators pushing buttons to make the train go, is laughable. If the Castlewood employees walked off, the club members would have to deal with dirty bathrooms—-if BART walks off, thousands of commuters trying to get to and from work will be stranded. Some comparison…..

  29. Bart can give the unions what they want but the board would have to take a pay cut and we all know that managers never want their pay cut or their benefits cut.Most people would be shocked at the money Bart Board members make every year. All those bleeding hearts that think the unions are being unfair need to pull your heads out.Every Board member makes over 300k a year so who is screwing who.

  30. I find it interesting that Union people say manning Bart trains with untrained operators (in their opinion) is unsafe. Thereby the union is saying take our offer or people will be in jeopardy. However, when you put all those Bart riders on the roads in cars where will be the greatest jeopardy for accidents and loss of life.

  32. Eric, assuming you can work a calculator, get it out and calculate how many managers would have to take pay cut in order to cover the union’s demands. Answer is, in case you haven’t figured it out is there are not enough BART managers to cover the increases the union drones are demanding. Nice, try, though. Maybe in another life, you can get an education and become one of those managers you so depise.

  33. Eric, I went to the mercury news salary database and looked up BART directors as you said. Perhaps you would be the shocked one to know their salary is $17,038/year. You really should not be making up numbers that can be easily verified. BART Directors make $17,038 but they do get medical coverage at a cost of $24,292 (which I feel should be eliminated) and deferred compensation of $1,304 (which should also be eliminated. Total cost for each board member, including benefits is $43,269. To put that into perspective, the total cost, including benefits, for a car cleaner is over $90,000. All of the salaries and benefits are in the mercury new salary database at: http://www.mercurynews.com/salaries/bay-area/2012

  35. cholo, please don’t be jealous of those who are well educated, experienced and successful. Perhaps you missed your opportunity to better yourself and now that you are in the twilight of your life, it’s too late to improve yourself. That is not an excuse to try to bring other people down to your level.
    Court is adjourned……….

  36. oh my…i’m reduced to teary teary tearies!

    Reminder: If BART continues to stall negotiations, there will be a strike!

    BART employees are dedicated to their jobs and only want they fair share of the pie.

    If BART management can ear hundreds of thousands of dollars, I see no reason for employees to also earn their fair share of your monies!

    fair is fair…i rest my case

    ps If you’re angry and you know it clap your hands!

  38. Former BART TOP DOG Dorothy Duggar walks away with 1 MILLION DOLLARS after she was fired in 2011…DUh duh…

    What else did she do to line her pockets with $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$…yall got sucker punched…tee hee

    What about Missy Dorothy Duggar mes petites?

    I’m waiting for you slick writers!

  40. been had sooooooooo much to do that I forgot to mention that i’ve also exhibited art at various museums,universities, art galleries:

    The California Palace of the Legion of Honor, The San Francisco Museum of Art, Oakland Museum, and other professional art galleries…tee hee hee

    i also trained at UCSF…tee hee hee…sorry to have to be the one to disappoint a few of you…

    incidentally, my father was also highly educated man…and, KIND!

  41. Correction: My daddie done been a highly educated person folk and spoke many languages, English included! tee hee hee…

    i’ve often wondered why caucasoid types assume that folks like moi are uneducated? NOT! tee hee hee…

  42. Hi “right”…I own 40% of a 6 unit apartment building in Cole Valley, San Francisco with senior friends.

    I’m so sorry to disappoint you. I have been quite successful socially and professionally. I’m happy for you and your friends. Success = having a limited income for life! tee hee…

    one of my primary goals is to help out others who have been less successful…it’s quite satisfying, you ought to try it!

  43. How can anybody on the BART Board of Directors be at the top of her/his game NOT having EARNED a Ph.D. from a major American university?

    NOT ONE OF THE MEMBERS OF THE BART BOARD HAS EARNED A PH.D.?

    It appears that they have all failed to earn Ph.D’s. Am I right?

    It’s not about not just having earned a terminal academic degree.
    The BART board has clearly NOT exhausted the educational opportunities or truly explored current research re: multiple complex issues related to public relations/transporation concerns in a large metropolitan area.

    The BART Board of Directors has clearly fallen short of providing the public with a clear understanding of the current concern re: impending BART strike. How come?

  44. $180,000.00 OVERTIME PAY FOR BART CHIEF OF POLICE?

    How does anybody working for BART management earn $180,000.00 in overtime pay?

    duh…look it up…stuff happens…tee hee…

    well well well whiners…if you’re not PROUD to have the Chief of BART Police earning soooooo muchy much overtime pay, WHAT DO YOU PLAN TO DO ABOUT IT? nothing…right? tee hee…

  48. Whatever excesses the BART police may or may not be getting have no impact on the central issue at hand, the $100,000,000 (one hundred million dollar) difference between the BART unions’ demand and the offer from management.

  49. There is some percentage of the US and California that (a) did not vote for those currently in office, and (b) warned about the unintended consequences of having these people in office. However, even with the majority voting for this outcome, it is not an abdication of our voices in the processes and plans of those who are elected. It’s just as important to speak now as it was to vote then.

  51. Here is BART management’s offer:
    http://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2013/news20130905.aspx

    Three excerpts”
    “On August 10th, BART presented its final offer to union leadership to help reach a contract agreement before the cooling off period took effect the following day. Union leadership left the bargaining table and has yet to respond to the proposal, which includes a 10% raise for employees over four years (2.5%, 2.5%, 2.5% and 2.5%).”

    “BART’s final offer calls for employees to begin to contribute 1% of base wages to their pension the first year, and 2%, 3% and 4% in subsequent years. Employees currently pay nothing.”

    “For health care, employees will continue to pay the same scheduled flat rate which is currently $92.24 per month. However BART will adjust the cap on its health insurance payment to the lower of either the Kaiser or Blue Shield Access Plus family plan. Those who desire to have a more expensive plan will need to pay the difference. “

  52. The ramblings by Cholo have no bearing on the issue at hand with the topic. I’m not sure at all what point her ramblings are attempting to highlight, other than to point out the idiotic nature of her numerous postings. The issue is that demands by BART’s unions for a 21% raise over 3 years are simply unaffordable for BART and unreasonable by any measure. One only has to look at the facts to determine that the union is totally out of touch with reality. To attempt to link somebodies salary in a job that calls for an advance degree and is subject to dismissal based upon his or her job performance to a job that requires only a high school or GED and is protected from dismissal by an antiquated seniority system is the height of stupidity.

  53. The Bart unions continue to lose support for their outlandish demands. Here’s a quote from the East Bay Leadership Council.”The package offered by BART management at this time appears to be fair and still includes many financial benefits that exceed similar private-sector compensation. Published reports suggest that with management’s proposed contract, BART employees will remain competitively compensated”.
    Read the full article here.
    http://www.insidebayarea.com/opinion/ci_24185377/bay-area-needs-bart-be-100-percent-reliable

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