Eleventh hour bargaining between Bay Area Rapid Transit officials and Local 3993 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees ran over the union's midnight strike deadline last night, but led to a settlement. While BART officials claim that the advances achieved by the union were insignificant and not strike issues, the president of Local 3993 claims that the union was able to win improved job protection and a more favorable grievance system for members. With the rapid increase in passenger load over the last four years, a failure to reach agreement could have led to an even more disruptive strike than the one during negotiations for the previous contract---which caused traffic to grind to a halt on freeways in the surrounding area for almost a week.
See "Deal reached, strike against Bay Area Rapid Transit called off, officials say", MARGIE MASON, San Francisco Chronicle, October 23, 2001