BART strike could be train wreck for all

BART train sits idle at Millbrae station on July 3 during last strike. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The prospect of a second BART strike has thrust both the transit system’s labor unions and management into the heat of the public spotlight – and judging from the public’s reaction, neither side looks good.

BART set the stage when it emphasized that the average line worker salary is $76,100 a year and that employees pay only $92 a month for health insurance. The unions walked right into the punch, with an opening demand for a 23 percent raise over the next four years.

Union leaders say they never expected to get such a raise – but by the time they realized their P.R. error, the numbers were firmly in the public’s mind. Then came the 4½-day strike – and now, the threat of a second.

A recent Survey USA/ KPIX-5 phone poll of 531 Bay Area residents found 44 percent of those surveyed thought the BART leadership has made the better case so far.

Only 19 percent favored the unions – while almost a third of those surveyed (29 percent) said neither side had made a compelling case.

In a second poll commissioned by the business-friendly Bay Area Council, 53 percent of those surveyed thought that BART’s workers were overcompensated.

But when the poll by EMC Research — which also does polling for unions — asked whether more money should go to the workers if it was available (as the unions claim): 41 percent said “yes,” while 49 said “no.”

Also, 85 percent said that if BART has extra money, it should go to infrastructure.

In the face of numbers like these, the unions have fired back with their own number, claiming that BART’s chief negotiator, Tom Hock, took off 10 days in the middle of negotiations. BART insists that he was gone only four days, but the number 10 stuck.

“That honestly pissed people off and at least changed the picture a bit,” said one union official, who acknowledged that the unions took a drubbing by asking for a 23 percent raise.

Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom said that although the public may be more sympathetic to management now, “Trust me, if there is a strike, by day three or four, the public is going to be mad at everyone.”

For more M&R — including what’s behind former foes Gavin Newsom and Chris Daly playing friendly, and how Judge Paul Seeman avoided prison time — read here.

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