BART unions give 72-hour notice of a strike for Monday, but governor could delay shutdown "We will always respect what the governor says,"

BART unions give 72-hour notice of a strike for Monday, but governor could delay shutdown  "We will always respect what the governor says,"
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By Mike Rosenberg
mrosenberg@mercurynews.com
Posted:   06/28/2013 12:00:40 AM PDT
Updated:   06/28/2013 01:08:15 PM PDT

The potential for chaotic commutes around the Bay Area sharply escalated late Thursday when BART unions officially gave 72-hour notice of a strike starting Monday morning.
However, in another twist Friday morning, the BART union representing train operators, station agents and other workers called on Gov. Jerry Brown to use his powers to issue a 60-day cooling off period. That could avert a strike, though BART management is opposed, saying it would prefer a strike now during the summer months when traffic is lighter. A spokesman for Brown did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
Regardless, both sides could still reach a deal by their Sunday night deadline to avoid a strike, and management and

A San Francisco-bound BART train at the West Oakland station, May 2013. (Laura A. Oda, Bay Area News Group) ( Laura A. Oda )
unions said they would strongly prefer to avert a shutdown. Unions and management leaders were back at the bargaining table Friday morning after making minor progress toward a deal Thursday.
Official confirmation of a strike is the last step necessary for the unions before pulling the trigger on a work stoppage following rank-and-file members' overwhelming vote on Tuesday to authorize a potential strike.
"We are not at impasse, and we believe that we could reach a fair agreement that recognizes the extraordinary work that our members perform to maintain BART's outstanding service record and high customer satisfaction ratings," says the letter from the local Service Employees International Union says, which joined the Amalgamated
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Transit Union in issuing the strike notice around 11 p.m. on Thursday. "However, BART's continued refusal to bargain in good faith leaves us with no option but to strike in protest."
The letter says that if a deal is not reached, the union will continue to work into the wee hours Monday morning to wrap up service that would begin on Sunday night but not show up to get the trains running for Monday's normal start time for service.
Union officials said they would comment further at a Friday morning news conference in Oakland.
BART officials said they were eager to continue negotiating toward a settlement.
"We will pay attention to it but we certainly expect to be back at the table negotiating, as they said, to avoid this," BART spokesman Rick Rice said late Thursday night.
Both sides offered counter-proposals earlier on Thursday that were slightly closer to a middle ground, though they remained far apart on key issues such as wages.
The ATU, the smaller union, asked Brown for the 60-day delay while the SEIU and BART management both want to resolve their issues now. Still, SEIU local president John Arantes said Friday that if the governor issues a delay, his union would abide by it and show up to
work to avert a shutdown.
"We will always respect what the governor says," Arantes said.
A 60-day delay could put the strike right in the cross hairs of Labor Day weekend, when the Bay Bridge is currently scheduled to close so the new east span can open.
Brown, a former Oakland mayor, has championed the bridge project and a BART shutdown coupled with a Bay Bridge closure would completely cut off Oakland and San Francisco by any means other than boat, marring the celebratory opening of the bridge. Transportation officials are set to decide by July 10 whether the new bridge, which has come under fire for safety concerns, will still open on Labor Day weekend.
BART workers joined employees of the city of Oakland at a news conference in Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland on Friday morning as city workers announced a one-day strike set for Monday. Dozens of workers wore shirts that read "Will strike if provoked" and buttons that said "enough is enough," as they rallied in front of several news cameras and reporters.
Workers at AC Transit, the region's third-biggest transit operator, are also threatening a shutdown for Monday morning. Worker contracts at BART, AC Transit and the city of Oakland all expire at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday.
Contact Mike Rosenberg at 408-920-5705. Follow him at twitter.com/RosenbergMerc.