Transit woes
Nov. 5th, 2009 12:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lblanchardOur subway/bus folks threatened to go on strike during the World Series. The governor and the mayor plus a few other folks leaned on them and they said they wouldn't.
The last Philadelphia game was over at midnight Monday. Tuesday they struck at 2:00 a.m., without warning, leaving thousands of night-shift workers with no way to get home, and hundreds of thousands scrambling to find a way to get to and from work. This was on election day, effectively disenfranchising folks who couldn't take the time to vote before leaving for work and couldn't get back to their polling places after work.
The regional rail lines are still running but are incredibly overcrowded. Yesterday one of them caught fire, stopping all service for two hours during morning rush hour. The union picketed an out-of-city bus company that was retained to provide shuttle buses for the stranded passengers.
This morning a regional train struck and killed a track worker.
A lot of city residents make a whole lot less than the bus drivers, who are demanding 3% raises every year, no increase in the 1% of salary they contribute to their health insurance, and hefty increases to their pension plans. These workers, who would be thrilled to make what the transit workers are making, get docked for the time they lose when they can't get to work on time.
The head of this union brags about being "the most hated man in Philadelphia," has called the mayor a little Caesar for complaining about the no-notice strike, and has announced that he will not sit down at the same table with him again.
Where is Ronald Reagan when you need him?
The last Philadelphia game was over at midnight Monday. Tuesday they struck at 2:00 a.m., without warning, leaving thousands of night-shift workers with no way to get home, and hundreds of thousands scrambling to find a way to get to and from work. This was on election day, effectively disenfranchising folks who couldn't take the time to vote before leaving for work and couldn't get back to their polling places after work.
The regional rail lines are still running but are incredibly overcrowded. Yesterday one of them caught fire, stopping all service for two hours during morning rush hour. The union picketed an out-of-city bus company that was retained to provide shuttle buses for the stranded passengers.
This morning a regional train struck and killed a track worker.
A lot of city residents make a whole lot less than the bus drivers, who are demanding 3% raises every year, no increase in the 1% of salary they contribute to their health insurance, and hefty increases to their pension plans. These workers, who would be thrilled to make what the transit workers are making, get docked for the time they lose when they can't get to work on time.
The head of this union brags about being "the most hated man in Philadelphia," has called the mayor a little Caesar for complaining about the no-notice strike, and has announced that he will not sit down at the same table with him again.
Where is Ronald Reagan when you need him?
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no subject
Date: 2009-11-05 05:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-05 05:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-05 05:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-06 02:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-07 12:47 pm (UTC)Looking for the silver lining, I can hope that this will drive the already (and very sensibly) low opinion most private sector workers have of union parasites even lower.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-07 01:52 pm (UTC)There is enormous resentment of the unions from folks who make far less than the bus drivers, have far fewer benefits, and who are losing wages if they can't make it to work on time.