Union: BART contract similar to previous deal

10/22/2013
ASSOCIATED PRESS
  • BART-Strike-22

    With the BART transit system on strike, a San Francisco Bay Ferry passes Alcatraz Island Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, in San Francisco, Calif. Frustrated San Francisco Bay Area commuters started the work week on Monday with gridlocked roadways and long lines for buses and ferries as a major transit strike entered its fourth day. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    • OAKLAND, Calif. — A union official says the contract agreement that ended the San Francisco Bay Area commuter train strike is essentially the same as a deal that nearly came together right before the walk-off.

    That’s according Amalgamated Transit Union international president Larry Hanley, whose union represents train drivers and station agents of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system.

    Hanley says the agreement contains the same economic package as last Thursday’s near-deal.

    Hanley says negotiators for BART backed off most of the changes to workplace rules they had demanded, and that led workers to walk off the job on Friday.

    The contract deal reached on Monday allowed limited train service for today's morning commute. Hanley says a vote by the rank-and-file on that deal would come on Oct. 28 at the earliest.