BART, unions agree on contract after months of talks

The San Francisco-area rapid transit agency and its unions announced Saturday they have reached an agreement on a new contract. The pact must be approved by the director of Bay Area Rapid Transit and members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 and the Service Employees International Union Local 1021, Bay City News reported. "We expect the BART board will now do its part and do what they should have done all along -- approve this contract," Antonette Bryant, the ATU local president, said. Union members had already approved a contract that gives employees caring for sick family members six weeks of paid leave. BART then rejected the contract, saying the language was inserted by mistake. The renegotiated contract instead expands bereavement leave to include more family members, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Negotiations have been going on for months. There have been two short strikes, one in July and another in October.