Unions put off Bay Area transit strike for a day

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - With a midnight strike deadline approaching Sunday, the Bay Area Rapid Transit's two largest unions announced they won't walk off the job to allow one more day of contract negotiations on Monday.

Bay Area Rapid Transit travelers wait to board an arriving train Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013, in Oakland, Calif. A major San Francisco Bay Area transit system ran trains as usual on Saturday after labor negotiations were extended past a midnight deadline, but the threat of a commute-disrupting strike loomed with the unions promising to walk off the job Monday if weekend talks fail to reach a deal. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

'We are not going to go on strike because the public deserves to have a riding system that works. We will give the (transit agency) one more day to get it together,' said Antonette Bryant, leader of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555, one of the two unions in talks with BART.

She warned that workers will go on strike at midnight Monday if an offer isn't reached by then.

The 11th hour announcement came after weekend-long talks to avert a second commute-crippling strike in less than three months.

BART workers went on strike for nearly five days in July and were set to do so again Friday when a cooling-off period ordered by Gov. Jerry Brown ended, but they agreed to negotiate through the weekend.

But the Bryant complained that BART presented a last, final offer Sunday afternoon just as the parties came close to reaching a full agreement.

The executive director of the other union involved in the talks, Service Employees International Union Local 1021, said the parties made progress on pay, pension and health care benefits but were still at odds on issues related to work rules.

BART General Manager Grace Crunican said the 'last best and final offer' presented to the unions Sunday is $7 million higher than the one presented Friday. She said the unions have two weeks from Sunday to accept the deal before it is taken off the table.

'We are open to any ideas over those two weeks that they may have, we will try and keep that conversation open,' she said in a statement. 'It is time to bring this to a close. The Bay Area is tired of going to bed at night and not knowing if BART will be open or not.'