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Business & Tech

Union Calls BART's Safety and Security Into Question

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 wants an independent inquiry into BART's management following recent security and system problems.

A union of BART employees, including station agents and train operators, is calling for an independent investigation into the transit agency's safety protocol and executive management following a rocky last few months.

BART has faced a change in management, protests incited by an officer-involved shooting, and a major shutdown of the system following a computer router problem within the past three months. The union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555, called BART's handling of these issues into question in a statement asking for an inquiry.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 said in the statement that "station agents and transit operators have been repeatedly put at risk during security emergencies," without support or timely information from BART management. 

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The statement was released Monday, against BART's decision to cut off cell phone service at San Francisco BART stations on Aug. 11, to prevent protesters demonstrating against the July 3 shooting of Charles Hill from organizing their ranks within the stations. Anonymous also hacked BART's promotional "MyBART" website on Sunday, accessing the information of 2,400 users and posting it on the internet.

"Its time for the California Public Utilities Commission, BART’s regulators, to take a long, hard look at what is going on with BART’s management and their decision-making process," said Antonette Bryant, the president and business agent for the BART union, in the statement.

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Last Monday, BART's  due to a router problem,  for about two and a half hours. The union's statement said that transit operators handled the situation without receiving information from management for hours.

Among the union's complaints are that the former embattled General Manager, Dorothy Dugger, received a $1 million severance package. Additionally, it charges that BART's communications department has acted recklessly in communicating to the public, making "public safety decisions without consulting BART management or its front-line workers."

"The people who run BART have lost our confidence and are putting rider and employee safety at risk," Bryant said in the statement.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 said it represents 900 BART employees.

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