One BART union votes to reject contract offer

Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1555, is the second-largest union at BART, with about 900 members. Members voted throughout the day on whether to accept or turn down the proposal, which includes a three-year wage freeze, a small raise in the fourth year, reductions in health and pension benefits and changes to work rules.

Local president Jesse Hunt said three in four members cast ballots and that 100 percent of the votes opposed the district's proposed deal.

The decision on whether to strike will not be made until BART's largest union, Service Employees International Union, Local 1021, which accounts for about half of BART's 2,800 unionized workers, votes on management's offer Thursday.

Hunt said he expects to return to the bargaining table as early as Friday with state mediators and hopes that management will reconsider the unions' offer to generate cost savings through changes to the retirement health plan.