BART Strike Announced for Monday Morning

For the first time in more than a decade, BART operators and station agents will walk off the job Monday morning in a strike called this afternoon by the president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 155.

"BART has continually taken a retractable position in their demands," ATU President Jesse Hunt told reporters outside the union’s headquarters in Oakland.  "We believe what we’re looking for is fair and reasonable."

Hunt said he was keeping his commitment to riders to give a 72 hour notice. The strike will be effective at the "close of business" Sunday, after the last trains have completed their runs.

More coverage coming soon.

  • Larry Lai

    Sigh….. all the passengers who rely on BART eventually becomes the victim for the group of people who do not realize the reality; especially in such an economy downturn. They are lucky to get a job. It is very upsetting, and in fact, down right angry. What goes around comes around as we say, they each will have their time to come.

  • Paul

    Now we shouldn’t be against workers trying to get a better deal. Most of the American work force is taking it bent over and these unions are the last hold outs of a people getting paid a fare wage for their work. I know the rhetoric that corporate America doesn’t pay these type of wages and why should these people get that. I ask the question as to why isn’t the corporate American work force join together and fighting for better wages instead of getting taken. Most of the industrialized first world gets paid more per hour then we do. I do have to say that the BART union should have waited for better times. Our state and local governments are strapped and they should have shown their willingness to take a hit. Then fight it out in the good times.

  • “In this economy” has a ring of sensationalism that makes it harder to swallow everyday. The job loss rate leveled out a while ago.All the passengers who rely on BART are still responsible for themselves. Nobody who worked for BART became the bearer of that burden. If you think that something like public transit is a right, you’ve got a lot of protesters to thank for things like an 8 hour workday and desegregated public places.

  • jd

    @ will Ood,

    That is a bit hyperbolic. Overweight, striking BART workers are hardly Freedom Riders, or Wobblies for that matter.

  • SfResident

    @jd, speaking of hyperbole, why the “overweight?”

    Kinda typical of vapid corporate rhetoric about “fat, lazy, union workers.” It doesn’t advance any debate and just makes you sound like a management stooge.

  • Daniel

    Will Ood, The workers make insane wages that are not even comparable to their jobs. Also I find it a little offensive that the workers are compared to freedom riders because they refuse to work for a fair wage.

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