Strike II

is the Regional Rail even prepared for when TWU 234 strikes?

zebrasepta wrote:is the Regional Rail even prepared for when TWU 234 strikes?

Regional Rail is already operating at capacity. I'm not sure how many more passengers they can handle.

South Jersey Budd wrote:

zebrasepta wrote:is the Regional Rail even prepared for when TWU 234 strikes?

Regional Rail is already operating at capacity. I'm not sure how many more passengers they can handle.

As a Chestnut Hill West line rider, with some trains already at standing capacity and the line serving a lot of transit riders, I am concerned.

TWU is claiming their members and the SEPTA managers contribute the same to the SEPTA pension ,but managers collect up to three times more in retirement. I have to read more about this but how will the Western PA politicians react to this? Oh wait it's the workers fault. And SEPTA management also contributes about the same as the hourly workers to health care premiums.

As with previous strikes, Regional Fail will bust when TWU walks, and they will walk. Since SEPTA has several city-only RR lines which are fairly short, they should be the first to get top priority in higher frequency service. The Chestnut Hills, Fox Chase and Cynwyd need to have headways that match the Airport. It's totally ridiculous that these lines have the pathetic headways they do. Crowded trains get alleviated with more service.

The Angora RRD station will be a real popular place again! 234 Strikes are the only reason it's still open.

bikentransit wrote:As with previous strikes, Regional Fail will bust when TWU walks, and they will walk. Since SEPTA has several city-only RR lines which are fairly short, they should be the first to get top priority in higher frequency service. The Chestnut Hills, Fox Chase and Cynwyd need to have headways that match the Airport. It's totally ridiculous that these lines have the pathetic headways they do. Crowded trains get alleviated with more service.

I agree. I would probably go into the city more if the chestnut hill west line ran more frequently on weekends. 1.5 hours is unacceptable.

http://mobile.philly.com/business/?wss= ... =280469092" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

No one wants a strike."I often have no choice in the matter," said Willie Brown, 51, president of Transport Workers Local 234, the union representing SEPTA's bus drivers, subway operators, and trolley drivers."I don't think it's a matter of if we strike," he said. "It's simply a matter of when, unfortunately.

read this and you'll be slamming your head...

zebrasepta wrote:http://mobile.philly.com/business/?wss= ... =280469092

No one wants a strike."I often have no choice in the matter," said Willie Brown, 51, president of Transport Workers Local 234, the union representing SEPTA's bus drivers, subway operators, and trolley drivers."I don't think it's a matter of if we strike," he said. "It's simply a matter of when, unfortunately.

read this and you'll be slamming your head...

He's just lobbying for new legislation outlawing strikes by transit workers in PA.

The next few weeks will show us just how good a lobbyist he is.

Firefighters can't strike
Police Officers can't strike
Teachers can only strike for two weeks
Guess what group wants to be next?

Clearfield wrote:He's just lobbying for new legislation outlawing strikes by transit workers in PA.

The next few weeks will show us just how good a lobbyist he is.

To what end? Won't that be a weakening of his position? A threat of a strike is a pretty good cudgel.

zebrasepta wrote:http://mobile.philly.com/business/?wss= ... =280469092

No one wants a strike."I often have no choice in the matter," said Willie Brown, 51, president of Transport Workers Local 234, the union representing SEPTA's bus drivers, subway operators, and trolley drivers."I don't think it's a matter of if we strike," he said. "It's simply a matter of when, unfortunately.

read this and you'll be slamming your head...

i feel like most of the commentors on that article have been lucky enough to never have been taken advantage of by management, or perhaps have only had terrible jobs and feel that's just the way it is. management could have solved all of the problems ages ago. the problem is the culture at 1234. septa is very reactive, and never proactive. I see it all the time at work. a piece of track or hardware clearly needs to be replaced, but it won't be untill it breaks and causes a problem, and even then it will just be another band aid on a hatchet wound.

And a transit strike will help fix that?

By striking they could lose more money than they get from the resulting raise. It seems really pointless.

AlexC wrote:To what end? Won't that be a weakening of his position?

Yes he will. Just as he weakened his position by calling the last strike without notice at 3:00am in the morning stranding night shift workers.

AlexC wrote:

Clearfield wrote:He's just lobbying for new legislation outlawing strikes by transit workers in PA.

The next few weeks will show us just how good a lobbyist he is.

To what end? Won't that be a weakening of his position? A threat of a strike is a pretty good cudgel.

TWU 234 finds itself friendless and alone in possibly the strongest union-supporting town in America. It's run out of the ability to generate allies by striking, and management holds all the cards. Their best hope for better deals in the future may be to instead submit to (union-friendly) binding arbitration, instead of having the right to strike.

Binding arbitration also insulates union leadership from challengers, who might tar any deal obtained without a strike, or with a short strike, as a capitulation instead of using the union's maximal extortive powers to obtain a deal, whether or not such a hypothetical deal would actually be better.