Statement of BART Board President Tom Radulovich on behalf of the BART Board of Directors

The Board of Directors met in closed session tonight and has voted 7 to 1 to release the following statement:

“We’ve reviewed the chronology of events concerning section 4.8 and are convinced that it was never the District’s intention to include the disputed Family Medical Leave Act proposal in the contract. We’ve also reviewed the preliminary costing of the proposed benefit.

We are not comfortable with the potential liability that could result from the adoption of this contract provision. We have directed the General Manager to go back to the bargaining table and continue a discussion with union officials in an attempt to resolve the matter.

Former chief negotiator Tom Hock is no longer associated with the District. A new chief negotiator will be named shortly. The Board is disappointed that this error occurred and was not caught earlier. All aspects of the matter will be fully investigated and any appropriate disciplinary action will be taken. Furthermore, all of our bargaining procedures will be reviewed and improved for transparency and accuracy.

We are releasing to the public two documents that were reviewed by the Board tonight: a chronology of events concerning section 4.8 and thepreliminary costing of the potential financial impact of this proposal over the four years of the contract. We will release further information about the matter as it becomes available and post it on www.bart.gov."