BART General Manager and Labor Leaders Announce Labor Tentative Agreement

Tentative Agreement Details

• Term of new deal: 2017 - 2021
• Salary- 4 years: 2.5, 2.5, 2.75, 2.75
• Pension: The deal allows BART to address the topic when they have more clarity on the issue. Currently there is litigation pending on PEPRA between the State and U.S. Department of Labor, and both sides agreed to discuss pensions at a later point.
• Ridership Based Bonuses: They continue, based on same three sets of criteria – ridership growth, health care cost and pension cost increases.

The following statement was issued by BART general manager Grace Crunican and labor leaders Chris Finn, president ATU Local 1555, John Arantes, president SEIU1021, Olivia Rocha, president SEIU1021 Professional Chapter, and Sal Cruz, president AFSCME Local 3993:

“The challenging negotiations between BART management and labor in 2013 prompted the BART Board of Directors to commission a report which analyzed the 2013 labor negotiations. The report recommended that all parties begin to rebuild a working relationship by doing things differently – such as creating regular venues for dialogue and joint problem solving. The report recommended that discussions on ground rules for engagement and information sharing about the 2017 contract begin early and focus on the articulation of some common goals. BART management, the Board, and our unions have worked over two and a half years to find common ground and to resolve tough problems together. That effort will continue.

Both sides are dedicated to rebuilding the system as a major priority. That shared commitment has motivated a series of conversations that have taken place between BART’s labor leaders and General Manager Grace Crunican. We are pleased to announce today that the conversations have created a Tentative Agreement (TA) reached by both parties, which, if approved will put in place a labor agreement through 2021.

This TA will provide the region and our riders with consistent and uninterrupted service for the next five years. This agreement will enable BART workers and management to continue to work on improving the relationship so that all of our collective energy can focus on rebuilding BART.

This agreement demonstrates that the unions and management are forging a better relationship by showing greater respect and by acknowledging the daily hard work of our employees as the BART system ages and ridership records are broken regularly.

The agreement will allow workers to receive a pay increase that keeps pace with projected inflation rates each year until 2021 (Increases each year = 2.5%, 2.5%, 2.75% and 2.75%).  The deal allows us to address the pension topic when we have more clarity on the issue. Currently there is litigation pending on PEPRA between the State and the U.S. Department of Labor, and both sides agreed to discuss at a later point.

During these demanding times, when BART’s reliability rate is slipping due to age and crowding, our focus must be on supporting the expertise of some of the best employees in the business. Our fleet of rail cars is the oldest in the nation and it is run the hardest. Our mechanics,  shop crews, quality assurance workers, and schedulers work miracles daily to keep the trains safe and still running over a million miles each year.  With all the talk of damaged cars and crowding, it isn’t said often enough that the crews in our shops work smarter and harder to continue our industry record of the highest car availability in the business. 

Our Station Agents, Train Operators, System Service, and customer service workers recently hosted record crowds on five days during the Super Bowl festivities, and during the Warriors Championship celebration parade. That is not to say it takes a celebration to see the finest out of these hard workers who serve ever increasing crowds of riders daily with more demands put on them and as the public becomes frustrated with the realities of an aging system in an open environment.

Our track workers and others in Maintenance and Engineering, continue to ensure our good safety record.  With the full support of our workers we’ve begun an aggressive rebuilding program based on their expertise of the conditions of all our assets and a systematic approach to replacing the most critical pieces of infrastructure first.

BART track workers spent 72 hours over Labor Day weekend replacing a critical interlocking near the West Oakland BART Station. The Agency was able to shut down sections that and other weekends to ensure employees are able to work in the most efficient and uninterrupted fashion. Meanwhile, executives and other staff supported the work by directing passengers to bus bridges to ensure constant mobility. This strategy allowed our crews to get an entire year’s worth of track work done in just a few weekends. 

Our Train Control Electronic Technicians have been setting records with their efficient work also. The graveyard shift is working to replace every switch in the BART system, and the workers have been verifying new switches at a pace that the manufacturer could barely believe could be done. Escalator and elevator mechanics are putting in long days and nights working in unflattering conditions to help keep our aging and abused equipment running. 

Management and labor created a two day workshop focused on building trust and respect, communication techniques that focus on our strengths, information sharing, and how to resolve contract differences without shutting down the Bay Area.  We are making progress, and will continue the work.

This TA is not final – it requires a vote of union members and of the BART Board. These actions will occur during the coming weeks.

The 2013 Collective Bargaining Report urges that we limit our comments in the media until the union leadership has had opportunity to explain the deal to its members, and they have had an opportunity to vote. We all need to protect the current process without external interference.”