Golden Gate bus transportation supervisors vote to strike

Golden Gate bus transportation supervisors vote to strike
Golden Gate bus transportation supervisors vote to strike
http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/local/golden-gate-transit-bus-drivers-vote...
Posted: 2:33 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014
Golden Gate bus transportation supervisors vote to strike

By Tom Vacar
KTVU.com
SAN FRANCISCO — More Golden Gate Bridge District unions say they will strike for a day in what they say is yet another effort to avoid bigger labor actions in the future.
Come Friday, Oct. 17, the Golden Gate Bridge could see a short but enraging commute.
Every workday, 22,000 riders take Golden Gate Transit buses across bridges to the city and the East Bay.
But a fight over essentially forcing workers into a less expensive employee healthcare plan - less expensive for the district - is drawing more labor force loathing.
"We've decided to collectively withhold our labor on Friday October the 17th for a one day strike," says Tim Jenkins, a Teamsters Union Golden Gate Bridge worker.
"The dispatchers and the bus servicers will be on strike and that will cause the entire system to be shut down. The ferry service will continue to run and the bridge will not be impacted," says Alex Tonisson of the Golden Gate Labor Coalition.
Workers say being forced into a lower cost healthcare plant could cost each member as much as $12,000 a year.
But the Bridge District says that’s not true, "The coalition says, 'we're going to have to pay $12,000 a year.' The District is giving every employee, who takes this plan, $12,000 on a debit card that they can use for health care expenses. The district is absorbing the cost of that high deductible," says Priya Clemens, Bridge District Spokeswoman.
"In 3 years, when those HRA cards are no longer allowed under the Affordable Health Act, the District is going to take those away. They're setting up a system that's going to cause massive increases for the cost of healthcare for our members in the future," counters Tonisson of the Golden Gate Labor Coalition.
Is there any solution in sight short of a strike? "The District has contacted State Mediation Services to request their help and we've also asked the union coalition multiple times to joins us in that mediation," says Bridge District Spokeswoman Clemens.