Brown to intervene to prevent another BART strike

[RandySF]

Commuters will be spared from another BART strike Monday if the transit agency and its unions cannot reach a contract by Sunday.

Gov. Jerry Brown urged the two sides to "think of the public and resolve this matter without delay," but said if no agreement was reached, he did not want a walkout to happen, and requested a hearing for Sunday at 9 a.m. in San Francisco Superior Court to order a 60-day cooling-off period.

The governor's decision to seek a cooling-off period came after a three-member panel he appointed earlier in the week delivered its fact-finding report about the negotiations.

The report said that while the parties have had numerous bargaining sessions, they all "claim a failure on the part of their counterparts" for lack of a resolution. The two sides have made little progress on the issues of pay, pension and health care benefits.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Brown-will-intervene-to-prevent-another-BART-4721755.php

[Skeeter Barnes]

1. The Union proposal seems reasonable to me.

The unions' three-year offer

-- A 15 percent raise over three years.

-- Employees would contribute 7 percent of their pension costs each year. In exchange, BART would offer a 6.5 percent raise the first year, on top of the 15 percent raise over three years.

-- Union employees' $92 health insurance premium could increase by no more than 5 percent a year.