State Ban on BART Strikes Killed in Committee
A Senate bill that would have outlawed strikes by BART‘s transit unions, as well as workers for CalTrans, and VTA, was defeated January 13, 2014 in the Senate Public Employees and Retirement Committee. The vote was three against and two in favor, along party lines with Democrats opposing. Two Bay Area Democratic senators, Leland Yee, San Francisco, and Jim Beall, San Jose voted with the majority. This means the bill will not be taken up on the floor of the State Senate, unless reintroduced before the February deadline.
Last month, the BART Board of Directors discussed the need for a ban and the possibility of developing an alternate ban. However, neither BART management nor BART riders attended the Senate committee meeting. The Service Employees International Union and Amalgamated Transit Union did attend and testify against the bill.
Read PCA previous coverage of the proposed bill.
Read more: http://www.pleasantonweekly.com/news/2014/01/16/legislators-kill-bart-strike-ban-proposal
