kpix 5 reporter cate caugiran is at the lake merritt bart station in oakland. any sign they will get back together at the negotiating table? >> reporter: we're not sure about that yet, frank. if this is any indication, the picketers are still here at the lake merritt bart station so this means bart riders should be making alternative plans. there's still no word when talks between bart management and the unions will continuing. take a look at what we know so far. right now, the two sides are still pretty far apart. bart is offering an 8% wage hike over 4 years. it wants workers to pay more towards their pension and benefits. the unions want a 13.5% raise over 3 years. they are also willing to kick in a .5% towards their retirement. but insurance is also a major sticking point. >> right now, bart employees only pay $92 towards their healthcare. that's unheard of. most people pay four times as much. >> if anyone wants more than basic, they pay that plus co- pays. it averages out to our members paying $200 a month. >> reporter: according to bart the average nonman

there is a rally scheduled for workers at the lake merritt station at 11:00 this morning and that is when both sides and the mediators are scheduled to go back to the table. the bart board of directors has called a special meeting today behind closed doors also at 11:00. bart general manager is speaking out about the strike and tells san francisco chronicle it is probably not going to get re1068ed this week. she says it is going to take some time. so, how do you move around during all of this without the trains? abc7 news cover is covering that from walnut creek. cornell? >> yes. at the walnut creek bart station if you are headed to san francisco tonight for the big fireworks show, do not map on taking one of the shuttle buses because they will not be available but there is limited service this morning for pokes who still need to get to work. a lot people are shrined up right now and today bart will provide three buses from east bay stations to san francisco until 8:00 a.m. and they will pick up at five bart stations walnut creek, el cerrito, west oakland, dublin/pleasanton and fremo

with video of the last train running last night at lake merritt station in oakland. as the train headed in it left hundreds of thousands wondering how they will get around. we found people this morning who arrived for a 5:00 a.m. bus at 2:45 a.m. >> so early? >> want to make sure i get on the bus. they only have so many seats. they are only allows 200 or 400 riders on each bus. i want to make sure i get on the bus. >> trying to get to work? >> yes, yes. >> you are a good employee. >> hope my boss is listening. >> bart will provide buses from these stations. it includes dublin/pleasanton and walnut creek and fremont. consider an early start. look at fellow passengers, some are already here. they say they are not sure what to expect. there are no rules or guidelines and they remember the chaos of the last strike. though are nervous. they are here early. >> casual car pooling is an alternative many may consider using to get across the bay. morning pickups are between 6:00 and 9:30 at the car pool stops in the east bay marked by these signs. passengers cross together sav

we're at the lake merritt station where the doors are still locked. within a few short hours, b.a.r.t. will be open for business around 3:00 i'm told. that's when the trains will be running again. union and b.a.r.t. negotiators have agreed to a -- agreed to a 30-day period. negotiators meantime will continue to work towards a new contract and b.a.r.t. employees are headed back to work. you can see the crews in richmond trying to get ready for the evening commute. they will be busy for the next several hours for what could be a busy evening commute. >> we're powering up the systems, making sure the electronic systems are working. a lot is taking place to get those trains out the door. >> reporter: the determine agreement came late last night following four days of union employees striking and contentious contract negotiations between leaders on both sides. the four-day strike definitely hurt b.a.r.t.'s bottom line. >> we spent about did 100,000 on the buses a day. we're losing a million dollars in fare revenue. basically, we've crunched the numbers. th

at the lake merritt station in oakland for abc7 news. >> heather, thank you. former san francisco mayor brown says if asked he is willing to help mediate negotiations. he was instrumental in ending the last bart strike in 1997 saying this time he is willing to act as a mediator free of charge. he suggested san francisco mayor lee and oakland mayor get involved. bart is adding more bus service. amy hollyfield is at the dublin/pleasanton bart station with the latest on this option. >> bart has taken what it learned from yesterday and made changes. this is still a point to pick up a bus in dublin/pleasanton but they have added another location. we have a map so you can see the four locations from yesterday still standing. you can grab a free round trip bus ride into san francisco from the dublin bart station and walnut creek and fremont but now you can also pick up the bus at the west oakland station located on 7th street in oakland. the hours are different. you can pick up there between 5:00 and 9:00 and the other locations are from 5:00 to 8:00 and now they wil

the unions made no movement toward a new contract our transportation reporter is at the lake merritt station in oakland. heather? >> heather: we are taking a hit but the workers, the union workers, say it is worth it in the long run. they are apologizing today to the commuters. the pickets are wearing a groove in the concrete. they have been at it for 28 1/2 hours. like yesterday, the same theme is unfolding at a dozen bay area locations picketing and rallying is all that was happening yesterday with each waiting for the other to make a move. the unions say they need a better offer to get back to the table. the transit union a.t.u. met with the lawyers preparing a response to bart's last offer which was from saturday. bart's negotiating team went home at 7:00 last night saying it is just waiting for the union response. no talks materialized yesterday but nothing is scheduled today, either, and the district said there is plenty of room for movement because neither side submitted the last, best, and final office. >> we would like to get to negotiations or the trains running. we have not heard

she is at the lake merritt bart station in oakland.ll right, cate, big question, any sign negotiations will resume sometime today? >> reporter: well, there might be a little hope for that, elizabeth. i just spoke with bart management a few moments ago who says, yes, they are ready to get back to the table but, again, they say there are no talks scheduled for today. i want to take a look now. picketers here at the lake merritt bart station, this is sort of a symbol that bart riders should be making alternative plans this morning. so far, the two sides are still far apart. bart is offering an 8% wage hike over 4 years. it wants workers to pay more towards their pensions and benefits. the unions want a 13.5% raise over three years. they are also willing to kick in half a percent towards their retirement. as we mentioned, just moments ago, we spoke with bart management who says they are ready to get back to the bargaining table. >> well, we're waiting for word from the mediator to see if we can return to the bargaining table. we want to ge

i tried to go down to the lake merritt station but the doors are locked.e this particular time. we understand that negotiations took place late last night. perhaps there will be back at the bargaining table and if there is a deal reached, they could have the trains operating shortly after that. for a lot of commuters in the morning, it is too late. they are already at the ac transit center of town. people are off to a fast start. they saw what happened on monday and tuesday so wednesday, we saw people early on for--early at 420. i can tell you land. if you are leaving now from oakland to some francisco, not a problem. those people we talked to said not a problem but coming back, one woman said it took about three hours. people are very frustrated with what is going on. especially active the of town center where there are pictures across the street while people are stuck in line hoping that this is very quickly. back to mark. >>mark: >>anny: continuing our team coverage we are monitoring other ways you can get around the bay area. one of the options is taki

. >> reporter: well, elizabeth, we moved over to the lake merritt bart station. as you can see over my shoulder there are seiu picketers out here. we are getting the latest information joined now by jim allison from bart. what is new this morning? >> essentially we are not running bart. and we have maybe about 1% capacity of our normal capacity with the few charter bus services that we have. so my word of advice to people would be to be patient, to find a different way to get around, if you can, plus be flexible with your schedule. and if you can, work from home or stay home and just hope this all works out soon. >> reporter: as far as working out is concerned, in terms of negotiations, do you have any updates as to when and if those will resume today? >> i don't have any definite information about know negotiations. we are not officially at an impasse. both sides i think agree that we want a contract to resolve this. and so we are just taking it day by day right now. >> reporter: in terms of operations going on, are there any other updates that you can give us.

picketers are still at the lake merritt bart station.re so far apart we know that bart has offered an 8% pay increase over 4 years. the transit agency wants workers to pay more towards their pension and benefits. the union wants 13.5% increase in wages over the years and willing to pay .5% to the pension. the transit agency opted out of social security in the '80s so this is all they have for retirement. as far as a day 3 strike, both sides say they are not wanting it to go that far. so let's hope that they will get back to the negotiation table soon. live in oakland, cate caugiran, kpix 5. >> thank you. >>> we are staying on top of a developing story this also out of oakland. two workers shot and killed at the wingstop in the city's lake merritt area. police say an alarm was set off at the restaurant on lake park avenue around midnight. officers responded. reviewing surveillance video, believe two people were involved in the shootings. >>> about a minute and a half before 7:00. our other top story hot weather continues. >> hot weather c

amy hollyfield is at the lake merritt bart station in oakland where for now the picketing continues. >> this doesn't look like good news or like what commuters want to see but the mood here is a little different. the workers here say they are filled with optimum this morning because we saw this, negotiators putting in long hours at the table and they worked through dinner last night. they came to the table at 6:30 and they stayed until 3:00 this morning taking a break to get some sleep and they plan to come back at 1:00 o'clock this afternoon. basketball workers say they consider this progress. >> it is always good, talking is good. if they do not talk nothing will get resolved. it is good to be able to iron out the differences and something good will happen. >> workers are hoping that the two new mediators at the table will keep the talks going and the dove brown sent them. we know they are talking but we don't know how the talks are going the we have reached out to both sides and they weather say they cannot discuss the specifics of what is happening behind closed doors. the worker

. >> thank you, happening now in oakland, a look at lake merritt bart station where park worries have just start add mid-day rally. workers have been picketing here around the clock. today was no exception although it is a holiday. we talked to a bart worker's action who said being on strike is a job in itself. it is not the same as being on vacation. >> bart shuttle buses are running on limited service today. this morning, a few dozen people lined up at the walnut creek bart station to catch a ride into san francisco. nothing like the huge crowds we have seen in the past few days. we spoke with a commuter who says that bart would have been his first choice but it is always good to have a backup. i believe in a plan "b" when plan "a" doesn't work. i grew up knowing to have (b) or (c) plans. bus will run 15 buss from san francisco including for el cerrito, walnut creek, weather oakland, dublin/pleasanton and fremont. buses depart from the terminal in san francisco starting at 4:00 p.m. and will head to the five east bay stations. the last bus leaves at 6:00 tonight. >> with the bart st

could happen and a lot of it seems to rest in the hands of the state mediators live at lake merritt bart station. >> lots of noise out there, thank you. thousands of commuters arose a little earlier today and some of them a lot earlier hoping to beat the traffic. we were overhead as traffic slowed to a call through the toll plains and cornell has been covering the back of the patrol plaza. is it any better? >> traffic is easing a bit at the bay bridge but we have yet to see the end of the morning commute. the cash lanes are jammed and backed to the maze with the metering lights still on. the commute started early with traffic snarling about 4:30 a.m. and chances are that some drivers who were stuck in monday's terrible commute didn't want to do that again so they left extra early. the trouble is, thousands of others had the same idea and the result was gridlock. [ inaudible ] what do you think of the traffic? >> horrible. ridiculous. we need to be on time to work and this is a lot of people that need to be on time to wherever they go and they need to do something. >> crews are working nonstop to

union leaders announced the strike at midnight for this morning and start picketing at the lake merritt stationn officials say one of the key sticking issues is safety now. management says it cannot afford everything the union wants. >> we would like bart to sit down with us and seriously consider our proposals. those proposals are serious to us and they have not addressed them. they refuse to bargain over them. and state health and safety is a mandatory subject of bargaining yet they refuse to do that. >> if we don't start replacing aging parts of our system, bart is going to start failing. and that means less riders which means less revenues which means layoffs. >> no new talks have been scheduled and bart trains will remain idled during the strike. >>> there is a break for east bay commuters. ac transit is not going on strike at least not tonight. the company and unions are still at the bargaining bargaining table to work it out. they will give 24 hours' notice before they take any action. right now bart is offering free shuttles from several east bay stations to the transbay terminal in san

kpix 5's cate caugiran live at the lake merritt bart station. what are you hearing? >> well, anne, we spoke with both sides bart and the unions. bart has reached out to the unions to try to set up another meeting and bart says that they are confident they can try to get things going again hopefully sometime today but meanwhile take a look at this right now. the union workers are still here trying to remind people of their message. >> we're frustrated. we don't want to have this disruption going on. bart left us no choice. >> the emotion that you hear is basically, you know, the venting of our members feeling that they're unappreciated. >> what do we want? >> fair contract! >> reporter: the two sides are still very divided. >> we think the strike was unnecessary. we want to get our employees back. we want to get the trains going. we want to come up with a contract that's fair for our workers but lets us make the investment to keep the system safe for everybody into the future. >> reporter: as it stands, bart offered an 8% pay hike over 4 years in addition to asking wo

live at the lake merritt b.a.r.t. station in oakland, heather ishimaru, abc7 news. >>> now to sky 7-hd over oakland this morning. take a look at this. that's a b.a.r.t. train moving, but don't get your hopes up. this is an inspection train, part to of routine maintenance. according to transit agency, b.a.r.t. is running trains to keep tracks from rursing and to make sure the system is ready to go when the strike does come to an end. and this morning, b.a.r.t. is expanding bus service across the bay. abc7 news reporter amy hollyfield is live in pleasantson. amy? >> reporter: good morning, eric. i am on board one of your options. this is a bus here in the pleasanton dublin b.a.r.t. station and it's empty. it's waiting for people, waiting to take commuters to the city, if that's where they need to get to. and there are few buses here waiting to take off. i think -- were you going to pull off? don't wait on me. i need to scoot up. i have to be behind the white line. excuse us. we're going to move up in case more people want to ri

she's up by the lake merritt b.a.r.t. station with much moyer. tara?eporter: -- with much more tara? >> reporter: here, you can see the workers are still protesting. we know how angst us people are here about these negotiations. our crews camped automatic all night. they started to talk at 6:30 last night and just before 3:00 this morning, un yin leaders -- union leaders walked out, tired after hammering out a deal. union leaders say they are not allowed to discuss the details but say progress is being made. once a deal is struck, everyone votes on it and then ultimately they could end the strike. >> and then in 12 hours those trains will be up and running again? >> we hope so. we don't want to be out here. it's hard on a lot of us. many of us are not getting sleep. we want to get people getting to work. >> reporter: now, last night, we spoke to b.a.r.t. officials before they headed into talks. >> we had a lot of work to do. we were at 8%. we were at 21%. so it's gonna take a while. that's the point. that's why we needed to do this. >> reporter: a lett

abc7 news reporter amy hollyfield is at lake merritt bart station to explain. amy?ook what i have to show you: absolutely nothing. for commuters nothing never looked so good. the picket lines are gone. the strike is over. for now. the trains will start running at 3:00 this afternoon. the strike is not permanently over. they have agreed to extend the contract for 30 days. they will still be negotiating during this next month. the old contract is in effect. union representatives are determined to keep fighting for the workers. >> we believe we will be able to get a contract in 30 days. we are putting bart on notice they have 30 days to right this ship and ensure our members get the contract they deserve and the riding public gets the bart service they deserve. >> two top state mediators and representatives from both sides left the caltran building in downtown oakland with suitcases saying it has been a long week. both sides, including bart's general manager, say they are far apart on discussions over salary, pensions and health care. they admit there is a wide gap. th

he is live at the lake merritt bart station. >> reporter: one thing you're not seeing here are the afternoon commuters coming in from the various parts around the bay area. both sides knew going into this that the strike card was in the deck. the question now is whether they have overplayed their hand. >> you know, that's up in the air. i think there's a bit of sympathy for the union going out. it's a longer strike, that could easily turn. >>> reporter: as a professor of labor relations at uc-berkeley, harley shaken has seen a lot of labor strikes in his time. >> the key is that this doesn't spill over into a very long strike that could be damaging for both sides. >> reporter: the problem is, once workers go out, it's just about impossible to get them to go back in unless they get something out of the deal. and union leaders know it. does there have to be a net gain in this contract to sell it? >> yes, because workers here have taken a wage freeze for each of the last four years and they have gave back $100 million in concessions. >> reporter: on the other hand, bart drivers still make about

merritt. >> we moved to the bart station hoping to get a comment from bart this morning. we are working on that. i talked to some of the picket ers manning this post 24/7 and say it was a long night but no contract was reached. they are elateed. when they brought the food in at 9:00, it was a sign they would stay. two new high level mediators called them back apointed by the governor. at 3:00 a.m. they decided to call it a night. >> as you can see it is rather late we decided we will make more progress if we get some sleep. we worked hard along with the fine mediators who have been assigned by the governor's office thank you for your coverage, i wish you a good night. no one from bart came out a comment and the situation is we are waiting to hear from bart. they are back to the bargaining table at 1:00 o'clock. we have a deal that has been reached between bart and a smaller union that represents 200 office workers and middle managers. they were not on strike but in a contract negotiation with no details released on that. the workers are he lated because the talks show a g

at 7:00 on this wednesday, you can see a live picture from the lake merritt b.a.r.t. stationhe picket workers are still out there, meaning the b.a.r.t. workers are still on strike, although they did negotiate into the middle of the morning, now taking a break. i'm kristen sze. >> i'm eric thomas. a look at traffic. we're on path 7 as you see, the time that's usually "good morning america." that's how serious the b.a.r.t. strike has been. leyla, what do you have? >> that's to say the very least, eric. we have tons of traffic in the east bay, making it over our bridges, but the worst of all is the bay bridge as we look in the westbound direction. to addo

resolution in sight and we continue coverage with abc7 news transportation reporter at the lake merritt bart station. heather? hot heather -- >> heather: plenty of picketers and the stations are locked up with no bart trains running. the union workers say they are frustrated but, also, motivated to show the public and the bart district what they are serious about: getting what they are owed. it inoed. no talks were schedule or materialized yesterday and there is nothing scheduled for today. it was behind-the-scenes as mediators worked on this yesterday and no one was talking about any mediator activity yesterday. they might be trying to get the two sides together today we. the unions called the last offer insulting and said it would tick a better package to get them back to the table. they are on hold waiting for that offer but, at the same time, we the acu union lawyers met yesterday and were trying to send their response back to bart from bart's last offer which made on saturday. the tricky issues are those that have been tricky from the beginning, the unions would like a wage increase of 4.5 perc

happening all across the bay area. 29 1/2 hours, now, of walking around and around at the lake merritt bart stationearing a groove in the pavement compared to the negotiations going in circles and not really getting anywhere. picketing and rallying were the only things happening yesterday with each side waiting for something from the other. the unions say they need a new and better offer from the district to get them back to the table. at the same time, the union met with the lawyers yesterday preparing a response to bart's most recent offer can was from saturday. bart negotiating team went home at 7:00 p.m. saying it is just waiting for the union response and no talks materialized yesterday, this is not an impasse according to the district with plenty of room for movement because each side or neither side has submitted the last, best and final offer. >> we are sorry it has come to this but we don't have any choice. we have to make sure bart looks out for the safety of the employees and the riding public. they have reduced inspection and safety inspections. >> bart has said they feel the place for

at 7:00 on this wednesday, you can see a live picture from the lake merritt b.a.r.t. station in oakland. the picket workers are still out there, meaning the b.a.r.t. workers are still on strike, although they did negotiate into the middle of the morning, now taking a break. i'm kristen sze. >> i'm eric thomas. a look at traffic. we're on path 7 as you see, the time that's usually "good morning america." that's how serious the b.a.r.t. strike has been. leyla, what do you have? >> that's to say the very least, eric. we have tons of traffic in the east bay, making it over our bridges, but the worst of all is the bay bridge as we look in the westbound direction. to add to the pain, another stalled car. this is inevitable because a lot of cars have been overheating simply because they've had to be sitting in three-hour traffic. so a mess right now. westbound 80, treasure island, your commute coming away from the maze into san francisco. you're looking at top 40 minutes in some pars. if you want to take this one instead, the richmond/san rafael, that's looking better. once past the

abc7 news reporter is at the lake merritt bart station in oakland. amy? >> good morning, it is over for now. but not for good. for now you will not see picketers at the bart station. the trains will start running again at 3:00 this afternoon. both sides have agreed to a contract tension so it will last for 30 days. the old contract will be in effect. they will continue to negotiate but they still need a new contract. >> the battle is not over. the job is not done. everyone will be working as hard as they have the last few days between now and august 4 to see to it that we have a good contract that pays the worker fairly and keeps the training running on time and improves the bart system. >> teams to both sides packed up and left around 11:00 last night saying it had been a long week. both sides say they are still far apart on issues like salary and pension. you heard what he said they have until august 4 to get that worked out when the extension expires. no one is saying what will happen if he do not have an agreement by then. will there be another strike

stations. this was the scene outside of lake merritt's and station a short time ago. the b.a.r.t. trains have stopped moving and so have negotiations. there were no face-to-face contract talks yesterday and no new talks are scheduled today. however, negotiators for both camps are now holed up at an oakland hotel. it's possible talks could resume at any time. we have team coverage. tara moriarty will tell us how b.a.r.t. is trying to help passengers this morning but we begin with sal castanedo and the commute. especially the east bay, right? >> that's right. tori, it seems to be worse as you mentioned today coming in through all of the east bay. i want to show you all of the road sensors. you can see that there's quite a bit of red on the maps, especially if you are driving on 80. i want to push into 80 here. you can see the traffic in richmond is terrible. got a couple of tweets saying 80 is a mess and people are trying to use the richmond bridge to go to the golden gate bridge to avoid the bay bridge which, of course, is going to be slow. let's go to the live pictures here. newsc

kpix 5's phil matier at the bart station at lake merritt. >> reporter: in any situation like this everybody knows that the strike card can be played at sometime. the question is, for both sides, have they overplayed their hand? >> there's a bit of sympathy in the union going out. if it's a longer strike it could turn. >> reporter: as a professor of labor relations at uc-berkeley, he has seen a lot of labor strikes in his time. >> the key is that this doesn't spill over into a long strike that could be damaging for both sides. >> reporter: the problem is, once workers go out, it's just about impossible to get them to go back in unless they get something out of the deal. and union leaders know it. does this have to be a net gain in this contract to sell it? >> yes, because workers have taken a wage freeze. >> reporter: there's a question of timing. the walkout is happening during the slow season for bart and on the eve of the long 4th of july weekend. still -- >> after a few days, there's only so many employers that are going to let you work from home. >> reporter: what's this costing your me