I am sorry for the killed workers. Were they not part of the union?

Often. ..the railroad is a dangerous place union or not the same rules and enforcement apply per the fra.

it sounds like the train was being operated by one of the managers that BART has said they will use to replace the regular union operators with. this is sort of a sad way to prove a point those people are skilled and can't just be replaced by some rando.

What a waste

These people should have had the proper training.

It's possible some strike-related mechanisms weren't in place, but it's unlikely.

More probably, it was an unfortunate, freak accident.

It may or may not have been related to the strike, but either someone did not follow a procedure or there is a procedure that should be changed. A person should not have a chance to randomly die in the course of performing their job on a day to day basis.

Seeing to that is one of the purposes of unions, actually.

and compounded by a communications breakdown that may have been related to the strike.

The company was in a severe 'cut costs' mode due to Michael Eisner's decree that every department had to show increased profits every year, no matter what.
One way some departments cut costs was to assign supervisors to regular employee jobs to cut down on the amount of people they had to hire.

A supervisor was assigned to help dock the boat to the pier but hadn't gone through the full training for the position.
The boat is supposed to move past the dock a little bit and then slowly back up.
The ship's rope is tossed over a metal pylon on the pier to secure it as it backs up.
The supervisor tossed the rope over the pylon while the boat was going forward which ripped it out of the deck and tossed it into the waiting crowd, killing one man.

The lawsuit was settled out of court as Disney always does so no one knows what the final settlement was.

Disneyland is not under those restrictions today.

Either way, sorry to hear it.

They may have been non-union to begin with. The operator was a part the management who came in to do the job of the the union workers.

learn that trade Union members are extensively trained, OTJ and in the classroom, for years (the training in Carpentry is 4 years before you become a Journeyman with an Associates degree) and deserve living wages.

I spent 13 years as a non-Union carpenter (because I bought into the Contractor spiel about the corrupt Unions taking our money). How stupid I was.
After all of my experience ( I had been trained by the contractor run American Building Contractors and had many certifications), I tested out as a Journeyman when I joined the Union) I learned more, by attending Union certification training, in one year than the "independently" sponsored "ABC" ever taught me.
The pay, being treated as a professional, benefits, etc.. improved me and my family's standard of living greatly and I became a much better and safer carpenter.
Europe and many other countries have come to realize that a Union workforce is the best and the extra money paid to the professional workers is a great investment.

life is cheap to them.

AP website: 2 BART workers killed after being struck by train

San Francisco Chronicle: 2 BART workers killed by train in Walnut Creek

Contra Costa Times: National Transportation Safety Board takes over BART tragedy investigation

Bay Area News Group: Two BART workers killed during maintenance work as strike moves into third day