Thursday, July 30, 2009

Will the BART talks end today?

In this case and at this point in the negotiations, I can't agree more with Linton Johnson's statement:

"The riders are already paying more, management has done its part by making painful cuts. It's time for the unions to step up to the plate."

There are more than plenty of people who would be willing to take on the jobs of the union members at a lower salary and slightly reduced benefits. Union members need to realize that their roles are replaceable. With some training, a new class of employees can take over their jobs and offer more energy and enthusiasm in most cases.

I just love those comments from BART employees about how BART system would fall apart without them!! I can't think of too many jobs that cannot be filled by someone with similar skills and the proper additional training. BART employees are well paid-- I'm not saying they don't deserve it, but at this point in time, in this economy, this very situation with the deficit and with passengers already paying higher fares, it really is time for the union members to be a little more flexible.

End this contract talks today.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Viewing the talks from the outside, BART management seems to have taken an adversarial and often public approach to contract negotiations--I wonder whether that has played a role in employee decisions.

Separately, my recollection is we don't pay very much on a per-mile basis compared to other transit systems where the fare is based on distance. Yet, even so, BART has one of the highest budget percentages of farebox revenue. That sounds like an efficient system.

Many of us believe there should be higher taxes to support transit (especially in San Mateo County, which did not impose a tax to fund BART, but instead transferred Samtrans dollars), but that seems unlikely. Why should we expect BART workers to take a hit when we (i.e., society at large) are not willing to pony up, except a small group of us (BART riders) will pay a little more in the form of modest fare increases? The difference between positions is not great--less than half the cost of the current 880 interchange upgrade in Hayward.

Anonymous said...

Dd management do its part? I thought they gave themselves a 3% raise a couple of months ago. If I am going to give something I want the company to give me back the money in another way. Haven't heard them giving their raises back. But maybe you know something others don't.

Anonymous said...

There are more than plenty of people who would be willing to take on the jobs of the union members at a lower salary and slightly reduced benefits.
Which is exactly why we need the unions!

Sid said...

You will not say it, but I will. BART employees are over paid. Yes over paid, and the benefits are outrageous. The need to pay their 7% of PERS, they need to pay for everything over the single person coverage for health care.

These are welfare jobs. These jobs are subsidized by the tax payers and in most cases not earned with the poor customer service. These people can be replaced.

Anonymous said...

The entire BART work force should be fired including management and unions, especially the unions! We need to replace these incompetent greedy snobs!