# BART strike set for Monday



## DET63 (Aug 16, 2009)

> BART train operators and station agents vowed to strike after regular service ends at midnight Sunday, which effectively would shut down the regional rail agency and force hundreds of thousands of Bay Area commuters to find alternate ways to travel Monday morning.
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> The decision by union leadership came after the BART Board of Directors voted unanimously Thursday to unilaterally impose a one-year contract on workers represented by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555.
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> ...



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...L#ixzz0OJmrfiTE


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## DET63 (Aug 16, 2009)

Public sentiment solidly against BART strike



> In a state where the unemployment rate tops 10 percent, BART workers who expect public support for their planned strike Monday against the Bay Area's regional transit system are dreaming, many average folks say.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...L#ixzz0OJnyHMRW

One comment in response:



> Public sentiment solidly against BART strike=========
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## Bob Dylan (Aug 16, 2009)

DET63 said:


> Public sentiment solidly against BART strike
> 
> 
> > In a state where the unemployment rate tops 10 percent, BART workers who expect public support for their planned strike Monday against the Bay Area's regional transit system are dreaming, many average folks say.
> ...


The age old shell game played by the greedy rich: supress workers rights/wages/benefits by using a "big lie" campaign to turn the great unknowing against the workers!Im a life member of a union in the most anti-union state in the nation and Im here to tell you that there is no ticket takers or train operators that make $100,000 a year anywhere, not even in NY!The insurance quote is the same lie they are using in the health care debate where idiots that listen to Fixed News(FOX) and Rush Limbaugh or read paranoid right wing crap on the internet yell about socialism and "keep the governments hands off my medi-care and social security!HUH?????Scabs by any other name are what strike breakers(aka "replacement workers")are and this is exactly what

is wrong right now in this greed first society that the right wing yahoos are promoting!"Storming the gates" proves my point,mob action promotes hysteria andleads to violence,its about work,not a crusade!I hope the unemployed get a job too,perhaps theyll have to leave the pricey bay area,if they want to work for BART let them apply,operating trains and working a ticket booth is hard/specilized work and takes time to learn!I am NOT in favor of Public Workers striking,its agains t the law in most states,but the anger expressed by the posters in the artricle needs to be used against the politicians and the rich that created this system,not against joe and jane worker!Cooler heads hopefully will prevail,its not the 1930s where California led the nation in hysteria against "them" that wanted to come take "our" jobs!As casey Stengel said: "You could look it up!" Hope the trains keep rolling and the people "storming the gates" get a job and a life!!!!


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## DET63 (Aug 17, 2009)

> Im here to tell you that there is no ticket takers or train operators that make $100,000 a year anywhere, not even in NY!


In California, BART train operators were getting $90,000/year in wages and benefits when their last contract expired in 2005, including a top salary of $64,428 and $29,750 benefits package. Of course, that is somewhat offset by the high cost of living in the Bay Area. So the $100,000 a year figure is not that far out of line (depending on what they were getting under the most recent contract).

Official updates: tentative contract deal has been reached



> BART announced at a 7 p.m. briefing that a tentative contract deal has been reached with the Amalgamated Transit Union to avert a scheduled strike. BART will run regular service on Monday, August 17th.


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## Green Maned Lion (Aug 17, 2009)

DET63 said:


> > Im here to tell you that there is no ticket takers or train operators that make $100,000 a year anywhere, not even in NY!
> 
> 
> In California, BART train operators were getting $90,000/year in wages and benefits when their last contract expired in 2005, including a top salary of $64,428 and $29,750 benefits package. Of course, that is somewhat offset by the high cost of living in the Bay Area. So the $100,000 a year figure is not that far out of line (depending on what they were getting under the most recent contract).
> ...


If that is the case, the article is certainly misleading. IF it was 90k + benefits, I could understand the hyperbole. $64,428 + benefits is a long way from "Upwards of $100,000 a year plus deluxe benefits". Like 40% far.

That being said, Jim Hudson, I'd say there are rail workers who make $100k and up a year. They bust their tail off, work a number of hours most humans couldn't comprehend, and so on. But they do work that much. Earn every damned penny of it, too. I don't know enough about the terms of this strike, but I will say, sitting here unemployed and completely unable to find work, that people complaining about making a nice sized (if deserved) salary while a good percentage of America isn't working are being a little... ludicrus.


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## tp49 (Aug 17, 2009)

jimhudson said:


> Im a life member of a union in the most anti-union state in the nation and Im here to tell you that there is no ticket takers or train operators that make $100,000 a year anywhere, not even in NY!


Jim, this statement is just not true. One BART train operator does make over $100,000 a year in base salary with no overtime. Many though make over $100,000 when you include their base salary and overtime. BART's trying to control their overtime expenses. Over 40 employees alone make over $25,000 a year in overtime. Do I blame the workers for working that much overtime? No, because management caused the system to be that way. Do I blame management for trying to control overtime costs? No, in this economy it makes a lot of sense. The Contra Costa Times has a database you can search by title and see what BART employees make.

The same is also true in New York.



> As casey Stengel said: "You could look it up!"


When it comes to BART salaries so can you right here.

As an aside, Jim I like reading what you have to say but if you could please put one space after a comma and two after a period, question mark or exclamation point. It would make it much easier to read as the lack of spaces there plays tricks on my eyes.


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## x.x.x.x. (Aug 17, 2009)

There are so many places this operation could economize it would take all day to just list them. It would make for fewer employees, which may make some of these people nervous right now. Particularly in the office staff, most of these people are unacquainted with meaningful work.

Since I have dealt with these people on several occasions and will likely continue to have to do so, for the sake of both self and employer I prefer not to identify myself.

I will just say this, dealing with BART is like running in a vat of thick oil. Everything about them moves s-l-o-w-l-y. No one wants to make a decision without it being passed through multiple hands to dilute responsitility.


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## Bob Dylan (Aug 17, 2009)

I stand corrected after the info from those in the Bay Area on salaries,however working the long hours to earn the large amounts of OT is not condusive to safety for the riders or OBS,its idiotic,shortsighted and dangerous and is the fault of management!I dont know who runs this organization but chances are the suits are the problem, not the workers!My point

about yahoos storming the gates is valid and I stand by it, glad a settlement is coming, both for the workers AND the riders that dpend on it!Most Americans have never seen a General Strike like Canada and Euorpe has from time to time so perhaps we are spoiled and expect everything to run smmooth all the time,life just aint like that!Ill never begrudge

hard working people doing hard jobs decent pay and benefits and no mthinking American shouldnt either, the real outrage should be directed @ those that steal millions and billions and the politicians(ie judges/attorney generals,govs/

presidents etc. that let them do it!If you disagree Vote Early and Vote Often,dont blame the little guys!(and perhaps apply for one of those jobs instead of just being envious and comparing Disney McJob kids to adult/career employees!)***

**tp49: appreciate the salary list but looking @ it seems that thye are all execs/suits/supervisors etc.,not any ticket takers

or train drivers that I notice,perhaps some of these parasites need to get a real job!**


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## DET63 (Aug 18, 2009)

> As an aside, Jim I like reading what you have to say but if you could please put one space after a comma and two after a period, question mark or exclamation point. It would make it much easier to read as the lack of spaces there plays tricks on my eyes.


One space after punctuation marks is adequate. I don't believe HTML (or whatever the text markup language is here) or the web browsers will allow two spaces. In fact, I see only one space between the period after point and the word "It" in the editor version above.


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## tp49 (Aug 18, 2009)

DET63 said:


> > As an aside, Jim I like reading what you have to say but if you could please put one space after a comma and two after a period, question mark or exclamation point. It would make it much easier to read as the lack of spaces there plays tricks on my eyes.
> 
> 
> One space after punctuation marks is adequate. I don't believe HTML (or whatever the text markup language is here) or the web browsers will allow two spaces. In fact, I see only one space between the period after point and the word "It" in the editor version above.


When I learned to type years ago I was taught two spaces after a period and always do that. The browser seems to like one regardless of whether I put two in or not. That's fine. My issue with jim is that he puts zero spaces between the word and punctuation mark so it looks like one long word between the last word in the sentence the punctuation mark and the first word in the new sentence. It's hard to read as my eyes see one long word.


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## DET63 (Aug 18, 2009)

tp49 said:


> DET63 said:
> 
> 
> > > As an aside, Jim I like reading what you have to say but if you could please put one space after a comma and two after a period, question mark or exclamation point. It would make it much easier to read as the lack of spaces there plays tricks on my eyes.
> ...


I know what you mean about the lack of any spaces. It's like trying to read a URL.


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