BART workers on Strike - Management kills 2 rail workers
BART workers are striking because management is trying to force work rules on them to allow untrained management to drive trains
And now you know why they are striking ....
2 BART workers killed by train in Walnut Creek
Two workers were struck and killed by a BART train Saturday afternoon near the Walnut Creek station, despite a strike that has idled passenger service since Friday.
The two workers, a transit district employee and a contractor whose names weren't immediately released, died at the scene after they were hit by an eastbound four-car train at about 1:40 p.m. on the elevated tracks near Jones Road and Pimlico Drive, north of the Walnut Creek BART station.
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Safety during train operations has been a point of contention between BART and its unions, especially when it was suggested that the transit agency was training management workers so that they could be certified to run passenger trains if the strike lingered on.
While BART said a number of managers, most of them former train operators, already were licensed to run the trains for needed maintenance and repair work, the unions said those operators did not have the current experience needed for safe passenger runs.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Two-injured-by-BART-train-driven-during-strike-4909974.php
and of course BART management is trying to cover this up. Refuses to discuss who was driving the train and keeps using the talking point the "Train was in Automatic Mode"
Taped Radio conversations indicates the dispatcher and management failed to comply with Safety Protocal
A review of BART radio communications indicate a male train operator, who sources say was an operator supervisor who regularly drove trains some two decades ago, reported a "BART emergency" to central operations, noting that the train had just struck "some individuals" and advising that they "may be BART employees."
A technician on the train is asked to check for bodies and he reports the first one on the trackway. A "second victim" is then reported 50 yards away on Track C-1.
The male train operator reports that "both are deceased and definitely BART employees."
On another recording, a woman can be heard announcing that "There are no personnel wayside (adjacent to the tracks)."
Within five seconds, a second voice can be heard contradicting that report: "Attention all personnel: We do have personnel wayside between C-40 and C-50 on the C1 and C2 tracks."
Central BART communication officers are among the workers currently on strike. It was unclear who was operating the dispatch center while trains were moving.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_24345865/bart-train-strikes-two-people-near-walnut-creek
