Some thoughts on the BART strike from a Labor Economics teacher at a Labor school in NYC:

This was a reply to the letters below.


Some thoughts on this from a Labor Economics teacher at a Labor school in NYC:

Sadly, the state of affairs is so bad that instead of trying to get a higher salary for yourself or better benefits, the defensive position is to blame and attack the little guy. Ironically, I see this exact same mentality from my students (unionized electrician apprentices in NYC) around welfare, unemployment benefits, etc.

I always try to steer the direction on how wealth is relative, so who cares if your foreman you don't like is making 100K (which they should support so that they can too someday!) when the wall street hedgefund manager is making 2 million an HOUR. Coupled with the fact that the Wall street hedgefund manager pays a lower effective tax rate than the BART transit worker (thanks capital gains!) and then they can really gobble up all the resources (apartments, etc.) and make things far more expensive for the rest of us. If they top is taking up most of the wealth, it doesn't matter that a transit cop makes that much, it's still a drop in the bucket.

I'm no OSHA expert, but I would bet that being a BART transit police officer or rail repair person IS dangerous, otherwise everyone would want to do it and they couldn't garner that high of a wage. I'm also betting that those are three of the top folks in terms of seniority, time at the job, and experience and so they garner that pay.

Finally, this guy is an idiot if he thinks that one third of a million dollars is going to make a difference in the budget for transportation infrastructure. Public goods, like public transportation, are INSANELY expensive and therefore only work as a public entity. (in NYC, the subway used to be private and so you had to pay one fare to take the J,Z, then another for the A, it was very cost prohibitive for the average Joe to take and horribly maintained). As a public good, the government can own, operate, and manage it and properly subsidize it. When the MTA went on strike in 2005, the city lost millions in revenue - having a well functioning transit system is economically necessary for a city (not to mention it's quality of life) and therefore folks need to pay for that. Blaming a police officer, or fireman, that has put his life on the line every day for that system to properly work is stupid and envious. If he thinks they are overpaid, he should try to do their job. I bet that he can't.

Kate



I don't think of myself as liberal or conservative. I do think everyone should get a fair deal. What we have seen historically in the US is major shifts of "who's got the power" between "business" and "workers". Back in Henry Ford's day the business's had pretty much all the power. The reaction to that was the rise of the Unions. The Unions did a lot of good to get a fair deal for the individually powerless workers (in numbers there is power). Then, as seems to always be the case, the power corrupted them, made them greedy. When we didn't have world economy they could get away with it. The more the world opened up the less and less power the Unions had. And at the same time, because of all the gains the Unions had made for their workers, the workers started seeing less and less immediate need for the Unions and the Unions started losing power and members. The pendulum swung the other way. Just about the only large remaining "protected" from global competition group anymore are the various "municipal" type Unions - Fire, Police, Transit, Garbage, etc. You can't outsource those jobs and you are a hostage if they wish to strike. Some states have made it illegal for them to strike but in the process they have created a different monster -> meet and confer laws leading to contracts treating those city workers as if they are a private company. What the city politicians got in return are guaranteed bribes, opps, I mean campaign contribution sources as well as campaign labor sources. They also got LARGE municipal unions that cover multiple cities. This allows them to play one city against the other as well as perform political acts in one city that are prohibited in another by having the workers from City A, who are prohibited from political activity in City A, do their political work in City B. The City B workers do the same in City A. So, we are left with Municipal Unions (some are state level, principles are the same) that have way too much power and no competition. Because of how they have worked the political system no politician wants to fight with them... they'll lose that important "endorsed by the Police and Fire Dept" label, which really means the Union members won't vote for them AND those members will work for their opponent.

Below are some examples of what Bart Pays...



That's nearly a Third of a Million dollars in compensation per year for the police who make sure people have tickets. The guy repairing track is making over $200K.

There is NO incentive for either management or workers to keep pay in check. They can afford to be loud mouthed and greedy and it's the same story, particularly with fire and police, in EVERY unionized city in the country. The Police in particular are the worst - they have replaced the mafia in terms of being an effective "criminal" enterprise that shakes down the citizens and politicians alike. You won't find many/any other jobs where someone with a GED can start out making more money as a rookie cop then a graduate engineer. And they have brainwashed the public into believing their jobs are dangerous when they aren't even in the top ten of dangerous jobs for on the job deaths. A taxi driver has a more dangerous job.

Whoever is the top dog at BART should do what Reagan did when the Air Traffic Controller went on strike - fire them all.

And this comment: Hi,

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and as many of you know, we are going through a major public transit strike. Our metro/subway system, BART, os shut down,
stranding 400,000 commuters (including my wife.)-- and we are also in the midst of a heat wave-- and NO NO TALKS ARE SCHEDULED

Now, I'm pretty liberal, and a union man... BUT the 3 transit unions in this case are loudmouthed and greedy. They want a 13% raise, BART is offering 8%. BART management
aren't that great, but I have to say in this case the unions are more to blame. and I'm starting to get really PISSED our roads and highways are nightmares.... and the assholes mutually agree NOT to meet? If it were up to me, I'd put BOTH sides leadership in jail, till they make a deal...

For the life of me I can't understand why they are allowed to strike--why some form of binding arbitration can be imposed-- and WHY 400,000 commuters and a Bay Area population of 6 million has to be held hostage day after day by a handful of assholes..... sorry.... you know, some of the picket signs read "better deal for workers and riders"-- BULLSHIT
if they get their way, our fares will rise. who's the real loser??-- us, the public