Rep. DeSaulnier, MTC Commissioner Amy Worth support BART labor agreement, Glazer will study it
On Monday, Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) issued the following statement on the agreement between Bart and the transit unions:
“I am grateful a tentative agreement has been reached between Bart and the transit unions. If approved, there will be no interruptions in services for Bay Area commuters. I look forward to reviewing full details of the 5-year deal with an eye towards the long-term financial stability and sustainability of Bart. On the federal level, I will continue to advocate for meaningful performance standards for transit agencies to ensure the public is getting its value.”
Orinda City Councilmember Amy Rein Worth, who serves on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) as the representative of the cities of Contra Costa County, on Monday issued this statement following the announcement of a tentative agreement between BART management and labor leaders:
“This morning BART announced a tentative agreement with its labor unions to extend BART labor contracts until 2021.I am pleased to support this financially prudent agreement that provides security to BART workers and service reliability to the BART riding public.
BART is a critical part of the East Bay economy and is relied upon by hundreds of thousands of East Bay commuters.I am hopeful that this agreement portends a future without service disruptions not just for the next five years, but sets a tone for the future beyond as well.
The critical role of BART service goes far beyond those who depend on it for a ride each day, as we have learned; the East Bay highway and transit network is not able to replace BART during a strike or a service disruption, which is why this agreement is so important.
BART, its workers and the public now can focus on the important shared task of rebuilding the system as its major priority.
I am grateful to state Senator Steve Glazer and the other local elected leaders in the East Bay who urged both BART’s management and labor to keep faith with the riding public by negotiating a new labor contract that recognizes the fiscal needs of the system and ensures that trains will keep running on schedule throughout the system.”
However, State Senator Steve Glazer, a critic of BART spending and strikes by BART employees issued the following statement on the tentative agreement:
“I have just been given an outline of the proposed 2017-21 labor agreement. I look forward to reviewing the details of the agreement and its implications to commuters and taxpayers,” he stated. “I will be consulting today with the 40 elected officials who co-signed my letter urging that BART rebuild its public trust with concrete, fiscally responsible actions before the November elections when BART is expected to ask voters for a multi-billion dollar bond.”
