BART ordered to pay $1.1 million for contracting out union work
Source: SF GATE
By Evan Sernoffsky
BART officials had to cough up nearly $1.1 million to civilian members of the agency’s police union for work the district had already paid rented guards to do, according to an arbitration ruling obtained by The Chronicle on Tuesday.
The payout comes as the cash-strapped transportation agency plans to ask voters to shell out billions for upgrades to its outdated and failing system, and as officials and transportation workers have agreed to a tentative deal to raise pay over four years.
The ruling last month stems from work that BART management hired nonunion, independent contractors to do, starting three years ago when the agency began replacing outdated fire alarm systems at several stations.
During the retrofit, BART’s community services officers — uniformed civilian employees, who are members of the police union — should have been put in charge of watching the stations in case a fire broke out, Ronald Hoh, the arbitrator in the case, said in the December ruling.
FULL story, photos, and video (of the new fleet on the way) at link.
Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle
IMAGE 1 OF 6 Community Service Officer K. Tate takes down information after checking the light and fire systems as part of her fire patrol in the Powell BART station April 12, 2016 in San Francisco, Calif.
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