Millions of people out of work – it’s good to know BART employees have the time/money to take off of work
Via Mercury News:
Now that BART workers are on strike, hundreds of thousands of frustrated commuters are asking: When will it end?
If Friday was any indication, not anytime soon.
The bargaining table was empty as negotiators finished the work week on an indefinite break that stretched on for more than 36 hours.
It was not clear if talks would resume this weekend or when trains could start running again, though workers would have to signal the end of a strike by Sunday afternoon to get trains running by the Monday commute.
Politicians’ calls for labor peace have gone unheeded. Top mediators failed to bridge the gap. An outpouring of complaints from commuters suffering through a 30 percent increase in freeway traffic and lengthy bus stop lines failed to sway either side.
“We’re in the end game. The way out of this is: Who can take the strike longer” — management or the unions? said Norm Brand, a San Francisco-based mediator who has helped with more than 3,000 labor disputes and other disagreements. “I think it’s a pretty hard standoff.”