Teamsters 856 Representative Tim Jenkins announces a one-day strike at a press conference on October 9.
UPDATE — October 16, 2014
Teamsters 856 and 665 members working for the Golden Gate Bridge Highway & Transportation District will not be holding a bus service strike on Friday, October 17, in order to allow for the membership to vote on the District’s latest offer.
“We’ve received an offer from the District and we need to let our members vote on it. As such, there will be no strike on Friday while we consider the District’s offer,” said Teamsters 856 Representative Tim Jenkins and Teamsters 665 President Ralph Miranda in a joint statement.
Teamsters 856 and 665 members working at the Golden Gate Bridge & Highway Transportation District have announced a one-day strike set for Friday, Oct. 17. Bus operators, who are members of ATU Local 1575, have indicated that they will honor the strike and the District’s bus service to and from Marin County, over the Golden Gate Bridge and into San Francisco, is expected not to operate that day.
The strike announcement comes after the District’s refusal to back off its plan to gut members’ healthcare costs to the lowest legally allowable levels.
“They want to push employees into a high-deductible health plan with up to $12,000 a year out of pocket. This puts too many working families one car accident away from bankruptcy,” said Teamsters 856 Representative Tim Jenkins at press conference on October 9.
“We believe that no one working a full-time job in the Bay Area should live with the fear that a car accident or a leukemia diagnosis could bankrupt their family,” Jenkins continued.
It is hoped that the strike will have the least possible impact on commuters – Friday ridership levels are typically half of that of the rest of the week. However, the workers believe that this action must be taken to protect quality healthcare for all working families.
“Our message to commuters who may be impacted by the strike is this: if they can do this to a coalition of 13 unions, you bet employers are going to try it everywhere in the Bay Area,” Jenkins said.