Golden Gate Bridge Workers Say They'll Strike for a Day -- But Won't Disrupt Commute

Update, 6:45 p.m. Monday: A coalition of Golden Gate Transportation District workers locked in a contract dispute with district management says one of its member unions will strike Tuesday, but that the commute across the Golden Gate Bridge should not be affected.

The 13-union Golden Gate Bridge Labor Coalition announced this afternoon that the district's eight-member Machinists Union unit will strike for one day and that as many as 50 workers total are expected to honor their picket line. But the coalition added that other employees -- for instance, members of the Teamsters who move lane markers for the morning and afternoon rush hours -- would report to work Tuesday and that bridge and transit operations should be unaffected.

Art Gonzalez, a business representative for the Auto Machinists Local 1414, said the one-day strike is to protest what he called "unfair labor practice" by the district.

"During negotiations in 2012 we came to an agreement with the district on retiree health care. The district has decided not to honor that agreement and last week we filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Public Employee Relations Board," he said. "This unfair labor practice exemplifies why the machinists and other employees do not trust the district's current health care proposals at the bargaining table."

Dana Fehler, the bridge district's director of marketing communication, said later that management "denies that it has committed an unfair labor practice or violated the law in any way. In this regard, the labor action is totally unwarranted."

She added that during labor talks, the district "has sought modest increases to the amount that Coalition employees have been contributing to their health benefits. District employees enjoy world class health benefits. The small contributions the district is asking employees to make to maintain these benefits is a mere fraction of the cost the district incurs and would remain less than the contributions made by most private and public employees in the Bay Area."

Original post: It's been months -- months! -- since we've had a labor dispute involving one of our local transit agencies. But another one, this time involving Golden Gate ferry and bus workers, may be imminent.

The 13-union Golden Gate Bridge Labor Coalition says it will announce at 4 p.m. Monday whether members will walk out over a contract dispute with district management. The 450 workers in the coalition include bus mechanics, ferry captains, deckhands, ironworkers and structural engineers, among others.

Familiar issues are at the heart of the dispute: wages and health care premiums. Unions are seeking a three-year contract, including a 3.75 percent per year pay increase and a .5 percent contribution to health care premiums. The coalition says the bridge district has countered with a 3 percent per year wage increase but that most of the pay increases would be wiped out by new health care premiums of 2 percent a year.

A strike would shut down ferries to Sausalito and Larkspur, a service that had an average weekday ridership in fiscal 2013-14 of about 7,500.

A walkout would probably shut down Golden Gate bus service into the city, too. Although bus drivers are in a union that's not part of the coalition, bus mechanics would be among those who would strike and drivers are expected to honor picket lines. District bus ridership averaged about 22,000 on weekdays in the fiscal year that ended June 30, including about 8,000 in total rush-hour ridership (mornings and afternoons) across the Golden Gate Bridge.

The last time the district experienced a strike was May 1, 2012, when ferry workers walked out for a day during contract negotiations.

The last big Bay Area transit labor action came in June, when S.F. Muni transit operators staged a sickout that curtailed service for several days. Last year, BART unions struck twice while negotiating a contract with the district. In the East Bay, AC Transit workers settled a protracted contract dispute last December, but only after months of strike threats and a 60-day cooling-off period ordered by Gov. Jerry Brown.

KQED's Isabel Angell contributed to this post.