BART says its negotiators signed wrong tentative labor contract

[Teamster Jeff]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Lasher (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: Los Angeles Times

A new labor agreement between BART and its workers has hit a snag after the Bay Area transit agency acknowledged it mistakenly left what it called a costly provision in the tentative contract.

The provision called for giving workers up to six weeks of paid leave a year for BART workers to deal with family health problems. Currently, BART workers must use their own vacation or sick days to get that time off with pay.

BART officials said they were worried the provision could cost the agency as much as $44 million over four years. BART’s board of directors met late Friday in closed session to order its managers to return to the bargaining table with the unions.

“We are not comfortable with the potential liability that could result from the adoption of this contract provision,” said the president of BART’s board, Tom Radulovich, in a statement.

Union officials said they were stunned by BART’s action. The president of the BART professional chapter of the Service Employees International Union Local 1021, Deslar Patten, said both BART and the unions agreed on the tentative wording on the family leave provision back in July.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-bart-says-its-negotiators-signed-wrong-labor-contract-20131116,0,5851405.story#axzz2kupDueZl

[mrmpa]

1. You snooze, you lose............

sorry BART officials. If you can't get it together to read a contract then you have to live with the results. I'm sure BART will go to court on this issue and it will be rehashed, but I bet if the Union had signed away something and wanted to call back on the issue, BART would not hesitate from working hard to keep the Union from doing so.

[Helen Borg]

2. Yet, anyone who has had

a close relative sick with mental illness or something like cancer, knows too well how even 6 weeks would not cut it... These things can be devastating already, without having to worry about the financial consequences of missing work to be able to help your loved ones...

[CincyDem]

4. No question that 6 weeks is insufficient to deal with these deep crisises...

...yet, 6 weeks a year to have the time necessary to reconfigure all of the support networks for the other 46 weeks is valuable, especially when you can spend those 6 weeks solely focused on caring for and preparing the next year's care environment for your loved one(s).

Unfortunately I suspect they will be able to claw this back if it is a tentative agreement. It doesn't sound like this is the actual contract. Tentative agreements are usually what the members vote on (and if they're on strike - what gets them back to work). Then it's up to the union leadership to ensure that the final contract fulfills the commitments made in the tentative. Once the contract meets those standards, it gets signed.

I think the time between TA and contract is just another level of negotiating and there's nothing for the courts to address until there's an actual contract. That BART used this TA as a was to get workers back on the trains and now they want to change a major element...WTF do you expect from management...rubber biscuits ???

[Teamster Jeff]

7. Seems like Bart has buyers remorse

BART has stated that it wants to open talks again with a new lead negotiator. I hope the Unions lets them dangle awhile.

[bemildred]

3. Tough shit, it's a good provision. nt

[Cirque du So-What]

5. I am not a lawyer

but to this layperson, it appears that BART management signed that contract with eyes wide open and therefore don't have a legal leg to stand on...but, then again, IANAL, so I'm unaware of potential loopholes.

[Hestia]

6. It is as if corporations/government agencies have never heard of social media - they

could establish a lot goodwill by honoring the contract. 1) Happy employees are productive employees (even though I hate that term); 2) because this story is now out in the wild, you can't put the genie back into the bottle, and BART should keep their dismay to themselves, fire whomever they feel necessary, and honor this contract. Social media can drum up ire around the world and even have a movie made it showing BART's actions - i.e. Fruitvale Station.

Would there be enough people to boycott using BART to make a difference, standing up for making BART honor their contract? One can hope...

[Lasher]

8. Locking, linked article is over 12 hours old.

New LBN Forum thread must be started within 12 hours after the linked story was published. Other than that this was a good contribution. Keep 'em coming!

Lasher