San Francisco's business organizations sent a letter, below, to BART and Union leaders urging them to end the BART strike.
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July 2, 2013
Tom Radulovich
Bay Area Rapid Transit
President, BART Board of Directors
P.O. Box 12688
Oakland CA 94604-2688
Antonette Bryant
President, BART Chapter, ATU Local 1555
132-9th St, Suite 100
Oakland, CA 94607
Des Patten
President, BART Chapter, SEIU Local 1021
100 Oak St.
Oakland, CA 94607
Dear Tom Radulovich, Antonette Bryant and Des Patten,
San Francisco’s business leaders are pleased that Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1021 are headed back to the bargaining table. The BART strike is hurting Bay Area mobility, productivity and commerce, and we urge you to reach a swift, fair and reasonable contract that will put an end to the strike.
The sustained BART strike is not only impacting hundreds of thousands of workers; it is costing millions in lost productivity. According to estimates from the Bay Area Council, the regional economy stands to lose more than $73 million per day in lost productivity for each day the strike persists. Additional economic impacts are expected on commerce from people who don’t buy meals and other goods and services because they don’t come to work. The strike will also have an effect on holiday traffic, as many people reconsider their plans to visit the region and attend various Independence Day events and celebrations.
Just as important, when California and the region have aggressive goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a public transit strike in the heat of summer has huge impacts on the environment. Every vehicle added to the roads adds more than 5.5 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) per day.
On behalf of the more than 3,000 Bay Area employers and hundreds of thousands of employees our organizations represent, we urge you to reach a swift resolution that will get the Bay Area moving again.
Sincerely,
Bob Linscheid
President & CEO
San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
Marc Intermaggio, CAE
Executive Vice President
BOMA San Francisco
Kate Sofis
Executive Director
SF Made
Henry Karnilowicz
President
San Francisco Council of District Merchants Associations
Kevin Carroll
Executive Director
Hotel Council of San Francisco
Gail Maderis
President and Chief Executive Officer
BayBio
Rob Black
Executive Director
Golden Gate Restaurant Association
Scott Hauge
President
Small Business California
Leslie Milloy
President
San Francisco Small Business Network
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