Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Bay Area transit strike is averted

|
|
 
  
Published: Aug. 16, 2009 at 10:20 PM

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.

Recommended Stories
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 29
Members of the Army's Old Guard place flags at Arlington National Ceremtery
View Caption
U.S. flags are seen in the rucksack of a soldier with the Army's 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, The Old Guard, as he places flags at gravesites in Arlington National Cemetery as part of the Flags-In Memorial Day ceremony on May 24, 2012 in Arlington, Virginia. American flags were placed at each of the more than 220,000 grave markers in honor of those who served and Memorial Day. UPI/Kevin Dietshc
fark
The man then proceeded to ask officers for their clothes, their boots and their motorcycles
I'm stuck to my chair. I'm so very scared. Help
Eenie meenie miney moe, catch a tiger by the toe, if he hollers, please contact Pierce County, Washington...
You're mad because you think the assistant principal took your son's iPod. Do you: A) Talk with...
Casey Anthony spends her days eating in front of the computer. No word on what her Fark handle is...
Rescue workers have to demolish part of house to get Britain's Got Tonnage winner to the hospital...