BY JIM ALTENBERG AND MARKIE WILSON
OAKLAND, California - "There'll be no BART until there's no two tier," said Tim Weltz, a train operator on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system and member of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1555. Weltz expressed the views of many strikers, for whom getting rid of a two- tier wage scale imposed by BART management in union contracts three years ago is the key issue.

At the BART stations, people continually come up to ask why the workers are on strike. The strikers take time to explain the issues and distribute leaflets put out by the unions. Many passersby express support, while drivers on nearby roads honk their horns and wave. A train operator picketing with Weltz at the Berkeley station said that workers from many unions had come by to show their support. Many strikers had paid close attention to the recent Teamsters strike against United Parcel Service, and some had joined the picket lines. "The UPS strike was a solidifying factor for us," said Weltz.

Not everyone supports the strikers, however. Two women picketing at the Fruitvale station here said one woman got out of her car to tell them that she had to go to San Francisco and that her personal driver was going to be inconvenienced. Another rode by on a bicycle and shouted, "You're disrupting my life and you make too much money!" A young woman at the Berkeley station complained that she would have to drop out of a class, but said it did not mean she was against the strikers.

Some 2,500 train operators, station agents, maintenance and office workers shut the BART down September 7 after working without a contract for two months. On June 30 the contracts covering workers organized into the ATU, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) expired. California governor Peter Wilson then ordered a "cooling off" period, during which BART workers were legally forbidden from striking.

Strikers told the Militant that BART refused to negotiate during this period, and only opened talks in the final days. The company's final offers not only extended the existing two-tier pay scale, but set up a third level, under which new hires would receive only 75 percent on the full rate of pay.

BART workers are demanding equal pay for equal work, regardless of how long anyone has been on the job. Andrew Powell, a train operator picketing with Weltz at the Berkeley station, told the Militant that BART had hired substantial numbers of workers over the past three years, as service was extended to outlying suburbs. "They prepared the two-tier knowing they'd be hiring," Powell said, noting that today nearly half of all train operators and station agents were on the lower pay scale. Under the expired contract, workers were to reach full pay after five years, but since the contract itself only ran for three years, it was unclear how long the lower pay rates would actually last.

The unionists are also demanding a 5 percent pay hike per year, improvements in a dental plan that has not raised its coverage for 27 years, and protection from discipline for AFSCME members who honor the picket lines of other unions on BART. They also oppose the increasing use of outside and nonunion contractors on BART projects.

The strike has led to massive traffic jams, including backups from the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge back through all of Oakland to the east and 15 miles to the north. Over 270,000 people use the BART trains each weekday. Government and transit officials have tried to add more buses and ferries to make up for the rail system, but so far the strike's power has not been diluted by these efforts. Strikers reported that bus drivers on AC Transit, which runs through Oakland and other East Bay cities, are refusing to work overtime during the strike, and AC officials themselves say they have no more buses to use due to budget cuts of the past few years.

The local news media has opened a massive campaign against the BART strikers, with screaming headlines such as, "Life without BART: It stinks." News reports continually quote people opposed to the strike. BART workers are attacked for being among the better paid transit workers in the country. Strikers point out that the cost of living is quite high in the Bay Area as well, and that they make very little in comparison with the management of the system.

Markie Wilson is a member of United Transportation Union Local 1732. Jim Altenberg is a member of Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Local 1-5.  
 
 
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