Update: California Secretary of Labor Marty Morgenstern announced at about 10:50 p.m. in Oakland that BART's two striking unions have agreed to return to work as negotiations with management continue. Train service is to resume at 3 p.m. Friday. More details: Strike is over, for now: Unions agree to return to work while talks continue
10:40 p.m. tonight: As noted below, BART's saying there's no sign the strike will be over by tomorrow morning. But if you're looking for a hopeful sign, we offer this: Negotiations continue at Caltrans District 4 headquarters in downtown Oakland.
9:30 p.m. Sent out by BART tonight ...
"BART has received no indication that ATU and SEIU will return to work Fri., July 5th. Commuters should make alternative plans."
9 p.m. BART Plans Limited Charter Bus Service On Friday, July 5 If No Train Service
Morning Service: First Come, First Served 7 buses at 5am at El Cerrito del Norte, Walnut Creek, Dublin/Pleasanton, Fremont & West Oakland Stations
If BART trains continue to remain out of service on Friday, July 5, BART will provide limited charter bus service to and from San Francisco during the peak commute periods: starting at 5am from five East Bay stations and 3pm - 7pm from San Francisco. Accessible vans will be available.
The limited charter bus service and accessible van service will pick up riders at the following five BART stations: West Oakland, El Cerrito del Norte, Walnut Creek, Dublin/Pleasanton and Fremont stations. At 5am, 7 buses will arrive at each of these stations. Once a bus is filled it will leave for San Francisco. There will be no transfers in West Oakland. This is first come, first served. Each bus carries 50 passengers. The service will only last until all seven buses are filled or 8am, whichever comes first.
The trip home will be a direct ride to each of the 5 stations with 7 buses and accessible vans serving each destination from 3pm - 7pm. The last bus and van to each station will leave at 7pm so riders need to arrive before then.
And on the negotiations front, from ABC7 ...
BART and its striking unions spent much of the Fourth of July holiday in negotiations behind closed doors .... There wasn't much coming from inside the negotiations. In fact, one negotiator told ABC7 News that nothing of substance has been discussed. But outside the negotiations, there were loud complaints from the unions and calls for BART's general manager to bargain with them face to face. Full story
From the Chronicle, on the possibility of BART unilaterally imposing a contract on striking workers ...
BART management has scheduled - and canceled - two special board meetings for each day of the strike, with an agenda that includes items calling for "unilateral implementation of certain terms and conditions of employment for employees" represented by the two striking unions.
It's simply a precaution dictated by state open meeting laws that require 24 hours' notice before a public body such as the BART board can act, said Alicia Trost, a spokeswoman for the transit agency...
Now, with more than 2,300 workers already on the bricks and trains shut down for four days and counting, BART leaders may decide they have little to lose from threatening to impose a contract if there's no movement in the contract talks.
"That's not what we want to do," Trost said. Full story
