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BART Strike Thread

sanjuro said:
How will this affect motorcycle commuters?
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I imagine it will make us feel even more entitled and superior than ever before, and will also increase the rate of M4M posts by 50%.
 
There are some things that shouldn't be unionized, and Bart is one of them.

"Bart workers ready to walk out"
Well shit! Hundreds of thousands of people will be affected by this. It's not fair to everyone else. It's not like safeway workers go on strike so you go to Luckys.. They should boot everyone and re-hire with no pension plan and a strike clause. They are already 50% subsidized as far as I understand. Inefficient clusterfuck.
 
Var said:
There are some things that shouldn't be unionized, and Bart is one of them.
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Tell me about it. My gf is an undergrad at Berkeley. She used to be a TA for math, and as an employee, she had to join the Union of Academic Workers. Then, UAW negotiated a new contract with the university where all union workers had to get equal pay. The university promptly laid off all the undergrad TA's because of cost issues.

Talk about myopic decision making...
 
I never liked unions thats just me tho, Im sure a boat load of people would take all the jobs of the current bart workers at a lower pay rate even.
 
Var said:
Hundreds of thousands of people will be affected by this. It's not fair to everyone else. It's not like safeway workers go on strike so you go to Luckys.. They should boot everyone and re-hire with no pension plan and a strike clause.
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Although I only ride BART two or three times a year, if they go on strike and there are strikers at the Pleasanton BART station, I'll be very tempted to ride over there several times a day and give them the BARF salute to let them know what I think of their strike. :twofinger
 
Unions are definitely a double-edged sword. Back in my valet parking days ( :nerd ) we were unionized which was great as for the first time in my life I was getting health care from a 30+ hour a week job. But the downside was that other than that the union's main purpose seemed to be fighting to keep the most idiotic fuckin' retards employed, people that really had no use on the job but the union protected them none the less (you pay dues right? protection!).

I'm not sure where I stand on them with respect to BART but I sense that this will again be rough on anyone who commutes, two wheels or otherwise...

Glad I live/work in SF! :twofinger
 
It will mean more congestion on the BB commute, and cars driven by the weekend amateur crowd who aren't used to motorcyclists splitting alongside them. So, I'll step up my radar, and be ready for heightened risk of contact.
 
Fuck em all. I hope they strike, I hope BART decides to go non-union, and I hope the union withers and dies.
 
Hopefully this ends before labor day weekend if at all. Imagine, with the bay bridge closed AND bart closed :barf
 
I believe that unions have long since outlived their usefulness.
As far as BART is concerned, I think every employee who strikes should be fired. With unemployment as high as it is, there are qualified, intelligent people out there who would take those jobs in a New York minute, do them well, and be appreciative they have a job. I have a hard time feeling any empathy for people making that much money for basically unskilled labor whining that they aren't making enough money. At least you have jobs, you pathetic pantywaists! :|
 
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Transit strikes are one of the most inconvenient things to happen in a city. When I was back in Canada last year, it seemed like EVERY city was having a transit strike. Ottawa, the capital city with close to a million people, had a transit strike that lasted two months from the start of December until the following February. Keep in mind this was also during a Canadian winter which makes things like biking nearly impossible. Not even ALL busses were back in service after 2 months, some taking 4 months before getting back on the street.

On the plus side, the city saved something like $2 million each day that the busses weren't working...
 
ian1386 said:
On the plus side, the city saved something like $2 million each day that the busses weren't working...
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And what was the collective cost to those that couldn't use the bus those days? :p


I was in Paris when the metro workers went on strike, and that day I had a flight out at like 7am. The cabs simply refused to take call in orders after 3am as they knew they'd be out makin' a killing on street pickups that day. Transit strikes hurt, transit unions know that...
 
You guys can bash unions all you want, but talkj to anybody with a job worth having, and odds are they're union, even though union jobs are now something like 10% of the labor market.

Personally, I couldn't do what I do without my wife's SEIU-protected job with the SF public library. And if you think she's too stupid and lazy to get a "real" job let me just say, :twofinger.

40-hour work week? Thank unions
Anti-child labor laws? Thank unions
Workplace safety regs? Thank Unions
An eight hour workday
A five day work week
Paid sick days, vacation days, and holidays
Family and medical leave
Health, life, and disability insurance
A pension
Safe and healthy working conditions
Proper job training

Union, union, union, union union.

Oh, but now we don't need them anymore? Working people's wages are as low as they've been since the 1960s, health benefits are being slashed, and the minimum wage, even at $7.25 an hour, is a joke. If you think that management and capital would let us keep these things, you are a sucker. We'd all be making $1.25 an hour in a second. You think Nike cares if their workers in China barely make enough money to live on and can only dream of buying its shitty sneakers?

Unions may be imperfect but they are the ONLY thing protecting the great mass of workers from hideous exploitation a la China, India, etc. Think about that the next time you say "unions have outlived their usefullness."

Oh, and before somebody jumps into my shit for getting political on this thread, jump on GsxrGirl:

Gixxergirl1000 said:
I believe that unions have long since outlived their usefulness.
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May I respectfully submit that you know about as much about labor relations as Var knows about bedding in brakes?
 
Gabe said:
You guys can bash unions all you want, but talk to anybody with a job worth having, and odds are they're union...
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Or they went to college.

I haven't seen any need for unions in the high tech industry other than maybe in the manufacturing side. Union rules would just interfere with me being able to get work done.
 
ScottRNelson said:
I haven't seen any need for unions in the high tech industry other than maybe in the manufacturing side.
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Bingo! Which is why all manufacturing is done in non-union countries.

And make no mistake: labor relations isn't about money. It's about who gets to control the workspace. Labor or capital? No union means you have no control, other than quitting. And you may be safe now because your skills are in demand, but someday, maybe, somebody else will work cheaper and be more skilled. And you sir, may be shown the door.

Okay, I'm not responding anymore...PM me if you want to start this discussion in another forum.
 
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