The acrimony caused by the second Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) worker strike of the year might jeopardize the revenue generating tax increases planned throughout the Bay Area.
"BART and its unions have one thing in common - they both stand to lose a lot more over the long term than just the battles they're fighting with each other during this second strike of the year," write Phillip Matier And Andrew Ross.
A plan by the transit agency to raise $3 billion for a new rail fleet and other improvements by raising sales or property taxes could be imperiled. As could Alameda County's plans to bring a new version of the transportation tax initiative that was narrowly defeated last year back to voters.
Matier and Rood also raise the prospect of voter backlash against labor unions, just as pension reform efforts gain steam.
UPDATE (10/22/2013): In The Examiner, Chris Roberts reports that the four-day strike ended today and service was expected to return to normal by Tuesday afternoon after getting off to a spotty start in the morning. As for the sticking points in the work rules, he writes that “the two sides also came to terms on ‘innovation’ in the workplace, according to John Arantes, BART chapter president for Service Employees International Union Local 1021.”
Thanks to Irvin Dawid for the update.
FULL STORY: Fallout will hit both sides in 2nd BART strike
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