Former Union Buster Steve Glazer Who Is Now Democrat Senator Wants BART Union Concessions Before Supporting Bond

Former Union Buster Steve Glazer Who Is Now Democrat Senator Wants BART Union Concessions Before Supporting Bond

Glazer: Rework BART union contracts before $3 billion bond vote
http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_29470563/glazer-rework-...
By Sam Richards

srichards@bayareanewsgroup.com

POSTED: 02/03/2016 01:00:38 PM PST1 COMMENT| UPDATED: ABOUT 17 HOURS AGO
WALNUT CREEK -- Saying BART has been irresponsible with its money over time, a group of East Bay elected officials called on BART to renegotiate its 2013 employee contracts before going to voters in November with a $3 billion bond measure to pay for rail system improvements.

"There have been decades of shortsighted fiscal and management decisions," said state Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, who led a news conference at the Walnut Creek BART station Wednesday.
Essentially, Glazer said voters shouldn't trust BART to use $3 billion responsibly, and he has joined with Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, R-Dublin, Contra Costa County Supervisor Mary Piepho, of Discovery Bay, and 29 East Bay mayors and city council members in seeking a contract renegotiation.
Glazer said he isn't asking BART employees to "revisit their salary choices," but he and the others insist that BART workers not be allowed to strike, and that such a provision should be in any new contract. Any new contract should also allow BART managers to be trained to operate trains during strikes, which Glazer said isn't the case now.
"This is a positive opportunity for BART to get its fiscal house together," said Pleasanton Councilman Jerry Pentin, standing with Glazer.
A letter to BART's board members and employee unions dated Feb. 3 from the 32 politicians calls for negotiating a new contract that "takes into account the dire fiscal needs of the (BART) system." Negotiations should be well under way by the November election, he said.

Asked whether the unions would agree to renegotiating, Glazer said the unions have as much invested in BART's success as anyone.
BART directors plan a $3 billion bond measure in Contra Costa, Alameda and San Francisco counties to improve BART service and upgrade the trains. While a poll conducted last summer by BART showed 75 percent public support for the bond, the five local officials flanking Glazer Wednesday likely didn't cast any of those "yes" votes.
Glazer made BART labor actions a key issue in the March and May special elections to fill the District 7 Senate seat left vacant when Mark DeSaulnier moved to Congress. He first blasted BART workers' right to strike, and then criticized the subsequent contract agreements with BART workers as too generous.

BART Director Joel Keller said Wednesday he agrees with Glazer in that BART employees shouldn't strike. He also said there's room for "honest disagreement" about whether the union contract terms were too generous, and the circumstances of the contract's approval.

But he said BART needs major repairs to all parts of its 40-year-old system, and that the bond measure will include an oversight panel to make sure the money is well spent.

"It's a big mistake to hold a bond measure hostage over that disagreement," said Keller, who suggested Glazer could instead introduce legislation aimed at making BART strikes illegal.

Such a bill, AB 528, was introduced by Baker in February 2015 but died in committee.

BART board member Gail Murray of Walnut Creek suggested it's politically expedient for Glazer and the others to say BART should solve the strike issue when they have failed thus far to get political backing to do that legislatively. She also called the demand to renegotiate the contracts "unrealistic."

Chris Finn, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 based in Oakland, had little to say Wednesday morning about Glazer's basic concerns.

"We're focused on some other things right now," he said, noting that labor and management are talking to each other about working better together on myriad issues, including successfully moving hundreds of thousands of riders to and from Super Bowl activities.

Contact Sam Richards at 925-943-8241. Follow him at Twitter.com/samrichardsWC