BART strike called off: Deal extends contract for another week
Source: San Jose Mercury News
BART trains will continue to run -- for now -- after management and unions reached a deal late Sunday to temporarily extend the contract for rail line workers for the next seven days and avoid another round of commute chaos.
With negotiations down to the wire, BART and its unions announced that Gov. Jerry Brown had requested a week-long delay to the shutdown that was set to begin Monday morning. It came just two hours before both sides were set to hit an 11:59 p.m. deadline to reach a deal.
The delay also includes a state investigation into the labor talks, headed by a three-person labor group. Brown said "the strike will significantly disrupt public transportation services and will endanger
the public's health, safety, and welfare."
"The board is directed to provide me with a written report within the next seven days," Brown said in a letter to union and management leaders. "For the sake of the people of the Bay Area, I urge -- in the strongest terms possible -- the parties to meet quickly and as long as necessary to get this dispute resolved.
Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/bart/ci_23793808/bart-talks-begin-sunday-morning-chance-monday-morning
Gov. Jerry Brown's letter to BART in full.
San Francisco Chronicle article: BART strike averted - for now:
The three-member board appointed by Brown is charged with providing a written report to the governor in seven days, during which time the unions are not allowed to walk out on the job. Brown, in a letter to BART's general manager and three top union leaders, said he stepping in because a "strike will significantly disrupt public transportation services and will endanger the public's health, safety and welfare."
He urged the two sides to "meet quickly and as long as necessary to get the dispute resolved."
The inquiry imposed on the two sides came after BART's board of directors sent a letter to the governor that in part said the two sides may not be able to come to an agreement before the midnight strike deadline and that if unions decide to strike, the agency wanted a cooling off period.