Judge orders cooling-off period to prevent another BART strike
SAN FRANCISCO -- In a brief but extraordinary weekend hearing, a San Francisco Superior Court judge on Sunday morning ordered a 60-day cooling-off period to prevent a second transit strike.
Judge Curtis E.A. Karnow said that he had no choice but to grant the strike reprieve, which Gov. Jerry Brown requested on Friday afternoon.
"If the court finds that the threatened strike will significantly disrupt transportation services and endanger the public's health, safety or welfare," Karnow said from the bench, "I have to issue the order."
The Bay Area Rapid Transit district and its three biggest unions have been negotiating a new contract for the past several months with no success. A nearly five-day strike in July left BART's 400,000 weekday riders in the lurch.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-judge-orders-cooling-off-period-to-prevent-another-bart-strike-20130811,0,553911.story