11:04 PM: BART management has not recommended that BART directors vote against a tentative labor agreement despite BART officials saying that a provision management had not agreed to was mistakenly left in the contract, a BART director said.
“We have identified a glitch in the tentative agreement that was ratified by the unions,” BART District 7 Director Zakhary Mallett said tonight. “The cause of that being incorporated into the contract is under investigation.”
Two BART unions and management took months to negotiate the agreement—through the unions’ contract expiring in June, two strikes in July and October, a court-imposed cooling-off period, and the deaths of two track workers during October’s strike.
While Mallett said that management has not advised the directors to vote against the contract, BART officials said in a statement this evening that the provision could affect the ratification vote scheduled for next week.
“There is a strong preference of moving on but we need to thoroughly understand what has taken place and what the impacts may or may not be,” Mallett said.
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 President Antonette Bryant slammed the sudden issue with the agreement this evening, saying, “BART management is now attempting to go back on agreements it made in July and August that were part of the final deal. This is unconscionable.”
The BART board of directors is scheduled to go over the details of the tentative agreement at a closed session meeting Friday and to vote on the contract on Nov. 21.
6:43 PM: The announcement this evening that BART management has taken issue with a provision in the tentative labor agreement reached last month was characterized by a union leader as an attempt by management to go back on its word.
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 President Antonette Bryant said this evening, “BART management is now attempting to go back on agreements in made in July and August that were part of the final deal. This is unconscionable.”
BART officials said the provision in question was inadvertently left in the final labor agreement, reached last month after the second strike of the year by unions ATU Local 1555 and Service Employees International Union Local 1021.
BART said the provision was not agreed to by management and could potentially impact the ratification vote by its board of directors scheduled for next week. BART is working on determining the impact of the provision.
The BART board of directors is scheduled to go over the details of the tentative agreement at a closed session meeting Friday and to vote on the contract on Nov. 21.
6:12 PM: BART management has taken issue with a provision in the tentative agreement that ended a strike by two unions last month potentially throwing the contract’s ratification by the BART board in jeopardy, BART officials said.
The provision was inadvertently included in the final labor package and was not agreed to by management, BART officials said. BART is working on determining the impact of the provision.
“The BART Board will have to factor this item into its ratification decision next week,” said a statement issued by BART this evening.
The BART board of directors is scheduled to go over the details of the tentative agreement at a closed session meeting Friday and to vote on the contract on Nov. 21.
