Bay Area transit strike is averted

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- San Francisco- and Oakland-area commuters dodged a bullet Sunday when Bay Area Rapid Transit officials said a strike has been averted.

Board of Directors Vice President James Fang announced Sunday evening BART has reached a tentative agreement with the union representing train operators and station agents. San Francisco Gavin Newsom and U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said union negotiators would take the tentative agreement to the membership and nothing has yet been signed, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

After the BART board of directors announced it would unilaterally impose a new contract on Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555, the union said Thursday a strike would begin at midnight Sunday. The local represents an estimated 900 BART employees.

BART Board President Thomas Blalock said Sunday the union backed off its desire to sign a contract running for less than four years, which had been a major sticking point in the negotiations, the newspaper said.

An estimated 340,000 people use BART for their daily commute in the Bay Area.