Vol. 79/No. 4 February 9, 2015
Unionists oppose charge
On Nov. 28 (so-called Black Friday) demonstrators chained themselves to a train at the West Oakland Bay Area Rapid Transit station — a dangerous tactic that stopped rail service for several hours — to protest the lack of indictments in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York in the killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Fourteen people were charged with trespassing and BART management demanded the group pay restitution.
Some 200 people packed a BART Board of Directors meeting Jan. 22 demanding that all charges be dropped and no restitution paid. We spoke as train operators and members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555, saying all union members, in particular BART workers, need to oppose restitution for lost revenues: should the Alameda County District Attorney agree with BART management’s demand, the door is wide open to go after the unions (and individual workers) during any work stoppages or strikes.
Bill Kalman