Washington – Today, U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer (both D-Calif.) sent letters to Grace Crunican, General Manager of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District, Antonette Bryant, President of ATU Local 1555, Roxanne Sanchez, President of SEIU 1021, and Jean Hamilton, President of AFSCME Local 3993 urging all parties involved in the contract negotiations to use the seven-day “cooling off period” issued by Governor Brown on Sunday to end the labor dispute.

In the letter, Senators Feinstein and Boxer wrote, “We urge you to resume negotiations in good faith, end the dispute, and work together to avoid any further disruptions to BART service.”

BART’s labor contracts were set to expire Sunday night, but Governor Brown issued a seven day “cooling off period” and appointed a three-member panel to look into the current negotiations. The panel is expected to issue a report later this week.

The Senators wrote, “The Bay Area relies on a safe, affordable, and reliable public transportation system, and any BART service disruption has significant impacts on our region’s economy and the hundreds of thousands of commuters who use the system. According to the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, the four-day BART service disruption in July cost the Bay Area at least $73 million in lost productivity.”

BART operates five routes with 44 stations in four counties. In 2012, BART carried more than 114 million riders, and has an average weekday ridership of over 300,000 passengers. It is the fifth-busiest heavy rail rapid transit system in the United States.

The full text of the letter follows:

August, 8, 2013

Grace Crunican 
General Manager 
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District
P.O. Box 12688
Oakland, CA 94604 

Antonette Bryant
President
ATU Local 1555
132 Ninth Street, Suite 100
Oakland, CA 94607

Roxanne Sanchez
President
SEIU 1021
100 Oak Street
Oakland, CA 94607

Jean Hamilton
President
AFSCME Local 3993
80 Swan Way, Suite 110
Oakland, CA 94621

Dear Ms. Crunican, Ms. Bryant, Ms. Sanchez, and Ms. Hamilton:

We write to strongly encourage all parties involved in the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) contract negotiations to use the seven-day “cooling off period” declared by Governor Brown to end the labor dispute.

The Bay Area relies on a safe, affordable, and reliable public transportation system, and any BART service disruption has significant impacts on our region’s economy and the hundreds of thousands of commuters who use the system. According to the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, the four-day BART service disruption in July cost the Bay Area at least $73 million in lost productivity.

We urge you to resume negotiations in good faith, end the dispute, and work together to avoid any further disruptions to BART service.

Sincerely,

Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

###