BOD's vote to impose work rules

That's a nice direct quote from Linten Johnson. I hope everyone is enjoying this. I live in SF, work in the East Bay and will be totally screwed if this strike happens. So I hope the BART Board and ATU enjoy this game of chicken while the public suffers.

Sure Linton. lol

when can we know for sure what will happen?

By law a "contract" has to be agreed upon by two parties, in this case BART and the Union. Terms of Employment can be imposed for a maximum of 1 year during which negotiations have to continue to try to come to an agreement.

Here's the official news release BART management emailed:

BART BOARD UNANIMOUSLY VOTES TO IMPOSE TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT FOR ATU
Action Comes After ATU Members Refuse to Adopt Contract Overwhelmingly
Ratified by BART’s 1st & 3rd Largest Unions

OAKLAND, CA – BART’s Board of Directors voted unanimously today to adopt
terms and conditions of employment for BART union workers represented by
the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) who rejected on Monday a new labor
agreement, which two other BART unions overwhelmingly approved. Those
unions are The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Local 1021,
which is BART’s largest union representing mechanics, electrical, clerical
and professional administrative workers; and the American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents primarily
middle managers and planners. The action the Board took today takes effect
immediately.

“This was not an action we wanted to take,” BART Board of Directors
President Thomas M. Blalock said. “We worked tirelessly to reach a
settlement through the negotiation process but after four very long months
of talks we have reached an impasse. As a result, ATU has left this Board
with no other choice but to implement terms and conditions of employment.
This is a regrettable but necessary step that we must take in order to
immediately begin the urgent process of addressing BART’s rapidly
deteriorating financial situation.”

Under the terms and conditions, ATU members will continue to receive their
base salaries. However, among the terms the Board will impose on ATU
members are a cap on health care costs, elimination of BART’s contribution
to a secondary pension plan, changes to employee contribution to PERS,
changes to worker schedules, changes to wasteful work rules and reductions
of paid holidays. The terms will remain in effect until a new contract
agreement is reached.

The vast majority of BART workers represented by SEIU and AFSCME have
already voted to approve a similar new four-year contract that helps reduce
the District’s labor costs while preserving base salaries.

“In these grim economic times, a majority of our unionized employees
decided that the four-year agreement is good for riders, good for BART
workers and good for the District” Blalock said. “It’s unfortunate that ATU
could not arrive at the same conclusion. ATU’s rejection of the tentative
agreement meant we could not meet the $100 million labor cost savings
target we set more than four months ago through the negotiation process.
This is why this Board was left with no other choice but to adopt
employment terms of working conditions for ATU. We owe it to the public and
to our employees to control costs now before they spiral out of control.”

BART is working to eliminate an estimated $310 million four-year deficit
amid a decline in ridership, state transit funding and sales tax revenue.
The BART Board of Directors set a target of $100 million in labor cost
savings over that same period of time