BART and unions reach another contract deal

BART and unions reach another contract deal
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/BART-and-unions-reach-contract-dea...
Henry K. Lee
Published 8:21 am, Saturday, December 21, 2013

(12-21) 08:20 PST OAKLAND --

BART and its labor unions have reached a deal that resolves all contract issues and brings to an end a nine-month dispute, agency officials said Saturday.

BART General Manager Grace Crunican said all sides have agreed on the remaining issue in the contract, a section on family leave. That will be resolved with "solutions that are administrative in nature and/or will be covered within BART's existing budget," the agency said.

After months of "uncertainty for our riders," including two strikes, "this deal will guarantee that every ounce of the agency's focus will be directed to providing great service to the Bay Area during the peak holiday period and beyond," Crunican said in a statement.

Crunican said she will recommend that the BART Board of Directors ratify "as soon as possible" the final collective bargaining agreement with Service Employees International Union Local 1021 and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555.

John Arantes, chapter president of SEIU Local 1021, said in a statement on the union's website, "It's a fair resolution that would close months of drawn-out contract talks and - in the interest of the riding public - end the uncertainty caused by the board's removal of a section from our final, complete contract."

Both unions are expected to bring the issue to their members for a vote.

A tentative deal was reached Oct. 21, but the BART board on Nov. 21 approved only part of the deal, leaving out a provision giving employees six weeks of paid family leave that they said they hadn't meant to include. In response, the unions sued in Alameda County Superior Court, seeking to have a judge force BART to abide by the tentative pact.

BART officials had contended that they never intended to agree to a section of the contract that gives employees up to "six weeks of paid time off to take care of a seriously ill child, spouse, parent or domestic partner or to bond with a new child." The district already provides up to 12 weeks of family medical leave, but it's unpaid, with workers using vacation days, sick leave or other accrued time off.

Under the new deal, the district's bereavement leave policy will be expanded to allow workers paid time off in the event of the death of a grandchild or step-parent of a spouse or domestic partner.

The agency will also upgrade employee break rooms at the Daly City, Millbrae and West Oakland BART stations, to be paid for through the district's existing station modernization program. BART will also allow eligible workers more flexibility in how they pay for the costs of their family medical leave.

The agency said there would be "additional administrative changes" to the contract but did not elaborate.

Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.comTwitter: @henryklee