BART unions 'ready to go on strike'
Source: SF Chronicle
With the possibility of a second BART strike a day away, talks between the transit agency and its labor unions continued under a media blackout that provides few, if any, hints of progress or gridlock at the bargaining table.
After bargaining past 10 p.m. on Tuesday, negotiators for BART and its two largest unions - Service Employees International Union Local 1021 and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 - returned to negotiations at the Caltrans building in downtown Oakland at 9:30 a.m. Members of bargaining teams emerged for brief breaks but had little to say other than that they were making slow progress. But whether it's enough to keep BART from shutting down, nobody knows.
The 60-day cooling-off period ordered by Gov. Jerry Brown to forestall a strike in August expires at 11:59 p.m. Thursday. So far, the unions have not issued their customary 72-hour notice of a strike. But since that notice is a courtesy to commuters, there's no guarantee union members couldn't walk off the job Thursday night or Friday morning.
"The fact is our members are ready to go on strike if we don't get the deal that they are deserving," said Antonette Bryant, president of the ATU local.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/BART-unions-ready-to-go-on-strike-4883134.php
And here come the authoritarian union-bashers in the comments section...even in a news site serving the progressive bay area! With gems like "go and strike and risk getting replaced with non-union folks that can appreciate the generous salary, pension and benefits BART has offered."
= new reply since forum marked as read
15% pay cut, less favorable work rules for the workers, etc..
Now, ABF freight is probably going to get the same concessions in their contract negotiations because YRC got it.
It starts at one workplace and spreads. We are all worse off for it.
Now, I realize most people here are like "niceguy" (ironic) in that they don't see someone else making concessions as a problem because it doesn't seem to affect their paycheck. I see it as other working class people, like myself, under assault and I think it has to stop somewhere because it has a ripple effect throughout the working class. Which govt. workers will they go after next? This is the liberal holy land of San Francisco and it sounds more like Scott Walker's Wisconsin.
So much for Solidarity at this goddamn place. All that shit sounds good until you might be inconvenienced. Then, it's fuck 'em. They need to get their lazy asses back to work! They don't do much anyway! 
