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| 2005/6/23-25 [Industry/Jobs] UID:38274 Activity:low |
6/23 BART employees want a 17% raise. What's the current inflation rate?
\_ Hey, I want a 17% raise too. Why don't you shove your inflation
rate up your ass?
\_ I second this inquiry.
\_ BART salaries have been frozen for 4 years
\_ You mean there was no one-time raise at the beginning of this
4-yr period?
\_ The expiring BART contract has 4-year raises totaling 22%.
Union officials claim the proposal for the next contract calls
for a wage freeze of 4 years and a 13% cut of benefits.
http://csua.org/u/ci0
\_ I just got a 14% raise this month. That was after a 4% raise
last September.
\_ 22% for the past 4 years? I only got 7% over the past 4 years
with little job security and I'm already among the lucky ones
in the industry. These BART employees got 3+ times the raise.
Now they want 17% for 3 years? That's even higher.
\_ A different perspective: http://csua.org/u/ci8
\_ I just got a 14% raise, on top of a 4% raise last October.
Why is this being deleted? Jealous or something? |
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| csua.org/u/ci0 -> www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/06/22/BAG38DCJLG1.DTL&hw=bart&sn=001&sc=1000 Talk about BART BART management and the system's three employee unions remain far apart i n labor negotiations with a June 30 deadline looming for contracts to ex pire and union workers voting today on whether to authorize a strike. Union officials say BART's managers want to freeze workers' wages for fou r years and cut benefits by up to 13 percent, while the officials claim the district has been spending too much on managers, outside consultants and unnecessary projects. We w onder if BART wants a strike,'' said Larry Hendel, chief negotiator for BART's two largest unions, Service Employees International Union Local 7 90 and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555. BART spokesman Linton Johnson decli ned to comment on the negotiations. "We want to get a contract in place, so we're being very cautious,'' Johnson said. The two largest unions in May proposed a three-year contract with wage in creases totaling 17 percent. The expiring contracts provided for four-ye ar raises totaling 22 percent. But BART board President Joel Keller of Antioch said "belt tightening'' b y employees will be required to address a deficit that could hit $100 mi llion over the next three years if preventive measures are not enacted. The transit district cannot go back to riders for more money or cut servi ce, said Keller, who defended General Manager Tom Margro's pay package. Margro's 5 percent pay raise this year was in line with what all employe es got, Keller said. Margro this year received a $286,000 salary, $19,60 0 bonus and $450 monthly car allowance. But fellow BART Director Zoyd Luce of Dublin said BART managers were over paid and accused managers of being confrontational with the unions. "From the language of executive management, they have really made up thei r minds not to do anything to avert a strike,'' said Luce, a former BART worker who was elected to the Board of Directors last fall from the Dub lin area. The transit district's two largest employee unions, along with the Americ an Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 3993, will vote today on whether to authorize a strike, a procedural move that wil l set the stage for a possible strike after contracts expire at midnight June 30. After the deadline, if BART or the unions request it, Gov. Arnold Schwarz enegger could order a 60-day cooling-off period. The last strike at BART was a six-day walkout in 1997 that resulted in huge traffic problems. The unions have sought to seize the public relations offensive, calling f or an audit of BART's books to see whether managers have been squirrelin g up to $20 million a year of operating money into different accounts. President Keller countered Tuesday by saying that it makes good sense to use operating money to maintain system upgrades that took a decade and $ 15 billion in public investment to complete. The unions have also hired actuaries and lawyers to review BART's project ions for medical and retirement costs. The unions say they are willing t o pay more than they have in the past, but not what BART wants. Union leaders said the transit district should look in the upper ranks to cut expenses. A Web site run by Local 790 contends that 244 BART "manag ers and bureaucrats'' earn more than $100,000 a year. |
| csua.org/u/ci8 -> www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20050622-2207-ca-bartstrike.html ASSOCIATED PRESS 10:07 pm June 22, 2005 SAN FRANCISCO Three unions representing about 2,700 Bay Area Rapid Tran sit workers voted overwhelmingly Wednesday night to authorize a strike, setting the stage for a possible walkout when their contracts expire Jun e 30. More than 90 percent of the voting members of the Service Employees Inter national Union, Local 790; an d the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Loca l 3993, voted to authorize a strike, said Harold Brown, the president of the ATU local. Brown said he still had hope a deal could be reached before the current f our-year deal expires at the end of the month. "However, the day is drawing nea r It's time to make decisive moves. "I fully expect we will be at the table from this point until June 30. We are committed to the public and our members to stay at the table and tr y to hammer this out." Brown said BART has proposed freezing wages for four years and cutting be nefits by up to 13 percent. In May, the unions proposed a three-year con tract with 17 percent wage increases. A state mediator has come in to he lp talks and Brown said he could not reveal if they made any more recent offers. "If you give a monstrous increase in wages and benefits, then we have to increase ticket prices and cut services," BART spokesman Linton Johnson said. The last time BART workers went on strike was in 1997 and the six-day wal kout led to traffic headaches throughout the region. The Bay Area Council, which represents 275 of the area's largest employer s, said the region "simply cannot afford a BART strike at this time, nor , frankly, would a strike be justified." President Jim Wunderman said labor costs account for 75 percent of BART's budget. "For BART workers to go on strike, to refuse belt-tightening of their com pensation or to demand even more pay, seems excessive at minimum and cou ld be viewed by many riders as absurd," Wunderman said. He added that a strike would lead to more pollution and increased traffic on the area's already congested roads. |