Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Open Thread: SEPTA Strike 2009

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Day 1 2 3 4 5 6

Have at it folks.

What did you have to do to get to work/school/play/errands? Carpool? Walk? Bike? Cab?

Did you already buy your monthly passes?

How long do you think this one will last?

Do you believe unions are relevant in 2009?

I'm fortunate to live in Center City and my commute to work is 7 blocks or so. I also love to ride my bike. I will probably not be too horribly affected by the strike. But I'm in the minority here.

This Daily News page might have some helpful info about the strike.

And my [most likely unpopular] thoughts on the strike in this post.

Send in your comments/rants/stories/photos/videos! Rants everything else.

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Posted by Albert at 1:43 AM
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52 comments:

  1. SEPTA never fails me. This is just SEPTA's way of telling me I need more exercise. Also, that I need to take more days off from school/work.
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  2. Fortunately I only have to travel from Fishtown to Temple. Not a bad walk at all. That's just tomorrow though... hopefully they'll have kissed and made up by the time I work on Saturday (I'm working in Ardmore - long, cramped R5 ride).

    Already got my pass. I better get some extra days.
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  3. I *just* got my pass...thankfully work reimburses me for it no matter what, but I can't really get to work since I work at the Navy Yard and haven't ridden my bike in the city since I moved. Might be able to work from home if the strike is short, but I never had to deal with this crap when I was in DC.
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  4. TWU calling a strike hurts those who depend on mass transit most. I'm glad I have a car and don't depend it!

    Are unions relevant in 2009? While the concept of a union is most definitely still relevant, the way they are run is not. Their executive boards and leadership rake in the cash while the workers they represent receive little benefit. And forget about representing the part-time worker -- the scale is unfairly tilted towards FT members. A union is just another "special interest" group these days.
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  5. (sorry, should have been "I'm glad I have a car and don't depend **ON** it!")
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  6. I'm one of those who waited until Monday afternoon to purchase a monthly transpass. Argh. Luckily I am only about 2.5 miles away from work, which is walkable, but my nightly social activities are pretty much done until the strike is over.
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  7. I guess I can forget about work today. No way in hell am I walking to University City from f**kin 2nd and Oregon. Not to mention I spent the rest of my money on a Transpass. Guess I better call my job :(
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  8. I live in Oxford Circle and needed to travel to Temple today, but I guess that's not happening.
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  9. I'm going to walk as I usually do. It's only 2 miles to and from work. I am upset though, because nowadays I use SEPTA when my pregnant legs get tired…but hey, my health, other people's jobs, senior citizens not getting to their doctors' vs. their 4% a year, I guess they win.

    Now, are Unions relevant in 2009? No. Not in Philadelphia in specific. Not when they behave like bullies towards the rest of the city (like they do here). I believe they've also not been touched by reality just yet. What economic downturn? I'm a septa driver! I don't care about such a thing!!!

    My mother is taking a 15% pay cut along with her coworkers so that most of them can keep their jobs (they've fired a few already). I am not getting a raise despite doing my work and other's sometimes, but that's okay I have a job. SEPTA wants a 4% raise every year.

    Regular people pay for health insurance; hundreds, even if they're healthy (like I tend to be). SEPTA wants a lot of that paid not by them.

    On my birthday I take a vacation day if i want to take the day off; but in Philadelphia the Police department gets the day off as a "paid holiday"….should I even continue as how Unions are (excuse my expression) raping Philadelphia?

    Now if SEPTA bus/trolley/subway drivers were exceptional I wouldn't think twice about supporting them. IF THEY WERE exceptional.

    -Shutting doors in pregnant women's noses? they do it.
    -Ignoring senior citizens waving at them from the bus stop in the rain? They LOVE it.
    -Being 30 mins late because the drivers want to be cute and form a little train made out of buses (and block traffic)? They do it all the time!
    -Almost run over pedestrians? (I lost track).
    -Running red lights and honking at pedestrians because you want to run a red light are a given if you're a SEPTA driver!

    No, I have no sympathy for them and, at this rate, I never will.
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  10. I'd like a 4% annual raise too - and I can make change!!!
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  11. I walked to work this morning, but it's only 15 blocks. It took me a half an hour and wasn't too terrible, except for the parts where I remembered WHY I had to walk.

    The things that made me really mad:

    I saw this older guy who I know starts work at 9am in my Old City neighborhood. He was doing a half walk/half job down Market Street around the Convention Center, obviously trying to get to work on time.

    How are the elderly supposed to get around? Philly has been billing itself as the place you move when you get older, because it's so great and you won't need a car.

    These are the people that the Union is hurting and that infuriates me.
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  12. What did you have to do to get to work/school/play/errands? Carpool? Walk? Bike? Cab?

    That's a funny story...I didn't. And I spent the rest of my money on a transpass yesterday.
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  13. Two mile walk into Center City to catch a shuttle to work. The walk wasn't too bad but the long shuttle ride with me twisted up in a packed crowd has left me with some awful back spasms.

    I get my transpass through payroll deduction, so it wouldn't have been easy to NOT get it this month.
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  14. Dear Mayor Nutter,

    I find it curious that SEPTA continues to operate in the suburbs, where there are still contested elections, but in the inner city – where the Democrat Party could not lose an election no matter what happens – the service has been interrupted. It seems fairly obvious that your office and Ed Rendell colluded with the union goons at SEPTA. If they delayed the strike until two prominent democrats were no longer in the World Series spotlight, the union would be allowed to crush the poorest districts of the city with a strike once baseball returned to the Bronx. It must be a drag to owe your political career to union gangsters. Do you sleep well at night?
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  15. I'm lucky, I've got a boyfriend who doesn't mind driving from Northern Liberties to University City twice a day to pick me up and drop me off, but my roommates are going to be walking to work for the foreseeable future.

    Also, big thanks to SEPTA for letting it's riders know about the strike. Yeah. I saw quite a few SEPTA riders waiting for a bus that will never come this morning.
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  16. I live in Overbrook and work in Radnor. That is why I am on my couch right now. I have no car and no way to get there. I bought a transpass and can't afford to pay the $6 each way to Radnor Station...
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  17. RR and the city operators are different unions. not that i'm writing any love letters to nutter or rendell.
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  18. I awoke this morning to the news from KYW that SEPTA was on strike. I live in Norristown and have been through several strikes (including the 1997 month-long debacle)so i thought that at least the Frontier Division wouldnt be affected unless things got a bit hectic down the line.
    I checked the website and found out that NOTHING in norristown was running but the regional rails and the 100 line to 69th street..i was LIVID...so i had to pony up some cash and get a gypsy cab to Lansdale where i work.
    this afternoon i will look forward (NOT)to taking the R5 to the city and then the R6 back to norristown, crowded in like a sardine and spending cash that i'd rather go other things to go completely out of my way to live my life.
    also, being a suburbanite means that i have NO FREAKIN CLUE how i'm going to do shopping or run errands as the places to do those things are just outside of town!
    my niece is being born at Bryn Mawr Hospital and i'm not sure if i'm going to be able to get there and back to visit my brother and his girlfriend without some difficulty
    just because the 100 and regional rails are running today doesnt mean it'll be that way throughout the strike however long it lasts.
    i have no sympathy for overpaid jerks who get more money and benefits than i do as is to NOT do the job that they are hired to do. I could go on and on about the state of the Norristown Transit Station - the urine soaked elevator, the transients who sleep in the station, the panhandlers and the constantly malfunctioning token machines!

    Septa - We're Getting...on MY LAST NERVE!!!

    FUCK YOU!
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  19. Walked over 50 blocks this morning to get to work. I absolutely hate SEPTA for this. Who do they think they are that they deserve to get such an extreme raise!? The people I work with didn't even get a 1% raise last year.

    They make an average of 52,000$ a year! That's twice what I make and I have a college degree!

    I couldn't even get a cab this morning because they were all too busy with the strike or couldn't afford to drive out into West Philly to pick me up.

    What makes them think that PA has the money to give them such a raise during this recession!?

    SEPTA customer service is absolutely HORRID anyway. None of them should get a raise. Instead they should be fired. There are thousands of people in or near Philadelphia without a job. They'd gladly take a SEPTA job, go to work every day with a smile on their face, and never complain.

    During my 6 years of living here I have never ONCE seen a SEPTA worker smile. I have never once heard a please or thank you.

    What terribly miserable people! How can someone, who gets to sit and drive all day in a temperature controlled vehicle, making 52,000 a year, be so miserable!?
    Man, you guys got it made!

    Did you stop for a second to think about the other people in this world who have jobs hundreds of times worse than yours and make minimum wage?

    SEPTA folks are so goddamn selfish it makes me SICK!

    I can't believe there are people like this still living in this world!

    SELFISH!
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  20. I plan on walking from Northern Liberties to my work in University City until the strike is over. It's about a 45 min walk. Not too bad. My work does offer a shuttle from 15th and Vine but at that point I might as well just walk the rest of the way. I am very glad I did not by my transpass this month.
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  21. Thankfully, I take the R5, which is still in service.

    It infuriates me though that this union has the gall to demand 4% raises per year. That's more than most of us get. Not to mention I know people just making above minimum wage with NO benefits who aren't striking. Ironically, they are the ones getting screwed by TWU Local 234's greed, as they have no way to get to work.

    Transport Worker Union 234's website: http://www.twulocal234.com/ Feel free to send them a piece of mind.
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  22. Biked to work as usual. It was nice to see more bikers in the lanes, though a bit annoying that they were riding at a snail's pace; obviously they hadn't gotten the bikes out of the basement in a long time.

    Majorly dismayed that traffic along 22nd, then along Walnut was miserable. From bad to apocalyptic. At least the bunny bikers have the right idea. Just do it more often, guys! Feels great not to be stuck on a cramped bus if you can help it, doesn't it?
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  23. everyone in the US probably needs a raise, and there should probably be more unions to deal with that. however, this septa union should realize the purpose of their job: to help normal people get around the city. you're here for the people. we knew about the friday night strike in advance, and we made alternate plans. then it was a saturday morning deadline, and we made alternate plans. then it was 6 o'clock on saturday, and we made alternate plans. then, suddenly nothing. i watched the news and checked multiple times sun and mon, so i thought the crisis had passed. they just went on strike without giving us a chance to make alternate plans. apparently, it is more important to them to get loud, drunk assholes to and from the games than it is to alert regular people going to and from work (who, like me, were SUPPORTIVE of their original strike plan) that there was going to be a strike. i walked my usual 10 blocks to the subway this morning to go to work to find the rudest surprise of the year. i couldn't believe there was no advance warning. i feel extremely slighted by the union and can't believe they didn't think highly enough of us to let us plan for this. it's very hard to support them now.
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  24. Kill 'em all.
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  25. I think that septa workers are disgusting, given what the city offered, which is so much better than most in the us, you are disgusting. -s
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  26. The union should have accepted what was offered to them. I work at one of the major academic medical centers in Center City as a nurse, dealing directly with patients' lives. The hospital did not give us a raise this year. What makes SEPTA workers think that they deserve a raise??
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  27. FAIL!!
    They want more money, in this economy? I am a nurse in Center City, I took a pay cut. I know I pay more than 1% for my healthcare.
    I hope Septa doesn't give them anymore. Their offer was more than enough. This is blackmail and should be illegal. A strike is about hurting the employer financhially, but you are now affecting the well being of the public on so many levels. Just disgusting.
    Oh, and FUCK YOU!
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  28. What a bunch of assholes. In the midst of an economic crisis these SEPTA crybabies, who undoubtedly make more money than the average rider, have a lot of nerve putting the squeeze on people who depend on public transportation to get to work. As someone who has been struggling to find steady employment for over a year I have zero sympathy for these spoiled union pricks.
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  29. I belong to a union and am a city employee who is not allowed to strike. The other difference is that I had to pay tens of thousands of dollars to get certification for my job yet septa employees get paid more with me when you put in their overtime. They are the highest paid public trans workers in the nation and they keep on wanting more. They give people in other unions a bad name, they are an embarressment. This is why some unions shut down towns like Bethlehem PA, employers just get up and leave. Septa just suck and they need to be taught a rough lesson.
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  30. Picketers are forcing suburban buses and trolleys to run sporadically now, the assholes. I couldn't go to school yesterday, but I could go to work because I take the 101. I officially can't go anywhere. Thanks, SEPTA!
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  31. I dare a septa worker picketing to get in my face or slow me down. PLEASE do it, as I will unleash the fury on your greedy ass!
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  32. Where are the Pinkertons when you need them?
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  33. Public transportion is a cheaper solution to driving a car and filling the tank with expensive gas. But now I stress about how I'm going to pay for rent, bills, medical care, and food for the family because the husband must now drive to work. And I have to rely on my retired parents to get around, who also don't have much money for gas. Its not like I don't have enough stress... and what about the others that are worse off than I?

    We have the elderly, the single parents, the students, the underpaid, the sick... we all relied on SEPTA for the transportion to get us to the market, to work, the hospital, the doctor, school, etc.

    They lost my respect and I pray that the consequences with be severe.
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  34. Twu 234 is holding our city captive now along with no city bus ,trains etc they are picketing the suburban division...WTF...

    I had to walk from R3 landsdown station to west chester pike and state road in Upper darby , becaus the fucking strikers were blocking the buses running out of 69th st.

    You guys officialy suck and thanks
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  35. It is sad that the governor and mayor stepped in to prevent a strike during a damn baseball game, but when it came to standing up for the very citizens these jerks want to vote for them they left the common citizen to fend for themselves. What is even more sickening is that when this crap is over the fares will go up as if it isn't high enough already. What about the children getting back and forth to school? Don't they deserve an education? SEPTA is the worse transit system and what they need is competition. They along with the sheisty ass mayor could care less about the common citizen as long as they get what they want.
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  36. SEPTA management has failed us, not the workers. TWU 234 are far from the highest paid transit workers in the nation (www.erieri.com). Workers who have a union who can fight for a just wage lift all wages regionally. Commentors act like the top pay scale for a SEPTA mechanic somehow comes out of the pay check of lower paid workers elsewhere. That might marginally be true in fares and perhaps taxes, but I'm sorry, it's the bosses/owners that reap the profits from lower wage workers. As has been pointed out elsewhere, David Cohen, the Comcast VP who is the top wage earner in the city, has salary that could cover the difference between the contract offered and the one TWU is seeking. There's no reason we need such a large gap between the highest paid workers and the lowest.

    This strike may be very inconvenient, and TWU may have failed to build any solidarity with the rest of us, but the news media is giving the wrong impression. I suggest readers take a look at

    http://mediamobilizing.org/nutter-fox-news-and-septa-strike

    I support this strike, and suggest SEPTA FAIL readers consider supporting legislation to make it easier for us all to have unions so we can enjoy the benefits we deserve as workers. Employee Free Choice Act:

    www.freechoiceactnow.org
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  37. I think it's disgusting that they are striking. And the way they did it - without giving people a chance to make plans- is the worst. It's a big F you to all it's riders. As if the strike wouldn't hurt them enough. And the hurt won't stop when the strike ends, because when they do come to a settlement it will likely mean service cuts and fare hikes in the near future to make up for the money they have to give the sub-par performing workers. I don't blame the employees. I blame the union. They have a lot of f'n nerve doing this in this economy when so many are losing jobs. And now more may lose jobs due to being late/absent from work. If it was 1/2 the system that NY or Chicago have it'd be one thing, but it's TERRIBLE!
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  38. Adam Feldman: Fuck you! Unions are not necessary anymore when the things they fought for decades ago are now federally regulated.
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  39. wow, all of this anti-union chatter makes it sound like all of you are bosses! or are you just scared to demand more in your workplace? septa workers wouldn't make the salaries they do if they didn't fight for it. as to the person who mentioned bethlehem, no unions ever 'shut down' a city. the companies simply decide they don't want to pay people what they're worth so they relocate, it's a pretty simple idea to understand, think converse in the early 2000's. maybe it's a novel idea, but we may never have gotten to be in the domestic financial mess we now find ourselves had more people had the courage to stand up in their workplaces. are unions relevant? well, that's a pretty broad question that is really impossible to answer in a minimal way, but in short: OF COURSE! when the NLRB, (the national labor relations board) is heavily conservative leaning, most employers get away with breaking labor law through intimidation, and people continue to think that whatever system and benefits and laws in place are the best we'll ever have, then unions are still completely relevant.
    it appears to me that SEPTA management is winning with the ridership in terms of splitting up the working class and pitting them against one another-- the grossest salaries in the country for any transit worker, etc. these sort of patent lies are what any boss does in a campaign. off the top of my head, i can name at least one transit company that pays its employees better, MTA. but it wasn't always like that, and even with a union, it's not as if their management doesn't like them, see their strike in 2005 as evidence.
    the workers have no control of length of route, spacing of buses, etc. so complaining about that in relation to the strike, those of you who made this mistake, may want to rethink your position.
    in closing, if you want better, then demand it. stop complaining that this is a recession and chastising those who want better for themselves and aren't scared to fight for it. it's funny to me that so many working class people can say, 'i'm suffering, so should you', rather than beating down the doors of those who caused this recession and are still living the same decadent lifestyles.
    in solidarity with the members of TWU 234,
    former union thug,
    justin
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  40. Septa needs to fire all its workers and get this over with already
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  41. Since the mainstream media hasn't even attempted to cover the striking workers' side, here are their voices directly: http://phillylabor.org/septa-strike-workers-perspective

    We're all workers and all on the same side in that regard. Furthermore, the disruption this strike has caused shows the importance of the workers' work and not that they are useless and replaceable like so much garbage.

    I've come across some surly, unhappy drivers and SEPTA workers. More often than not, my experience is just neutral--not overfriendly, not hostile. And more than a few times, I've come across friendly workers who've helped me. This is the nature of the beast in any city, not just SEPTA, not just Philly. I'm happy to use SEPTA's services and can't wait for the strike to be over. Because driving my car sucks. But I also stand in solidarity with ANY fellow workers who need to make a decent living. No one is making Mayor Nutter's salary driving a bus.

    Corporate greed and government inertia is the problem, not working people.
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  42. Unions will be necessary as long as humans work for wages. It's a shame internet comments sections allow people to vent their darkest sides. But take a moment to reflect on how we got here:

    First, we are experiencing a recession largely because of criminal and unregulated investment in financial instruments which nearly brought about a great depression.

    Second, everyone intuitively knows we've transitioned from an "industrial" economy to "service economy". I think this is why people say we don't need unions anymore: where after all are the images of children in US coal mines, wives and daughters burning in sweatshop fires, private armies marching on Homestead workers?

    This I think is why so many workers in Philadelphia are outraged to learn that workers for a union that is a legacy of turn of the last century labor-militantism get, well, frankly, a living wage. White collar workers see their 30ish and 40ish thousand dollar paychecks, and think "I went to college, and these high school bums make more than me!" But instead of being condescending snobs, those workers should think "I need a union, why is my boss paying me so little for all the value I add to this company."

    Which finally brings me back to this strike. One of many issues TWU is fighting for is their retirement pensions. Management has underfunded, criminals in the finacial sector of destroyed it's value, and these workers just want to know that they can retire and the end of a long working life. They're also fighting for work rules to protect against descrimination (particularly of women) in job selection. I wish I could site more examples, but the Inquire, Daily News, WHYY, and TV are doing a terrible job covering this strike. It's just Management, Mayor, Governor, and poorly informed public we hear from.

    Please excuse the slight. We really should take inspiration from this strike. We should talk with friends and family about unions and Employee Free Choice Act. We should try, with a sense of humor, to enjoy the comraderie of our fellow Philadelphians as we walk, bike, car pool, the strike. I've heard many people on the street grudgingly admit that they like all the friendliness and togetherness despite the hardship that this strike is bringing to their days. It's not all roses, I know. 3 hour commutes on regional rail and suburban buses are intolerable. And the lowest paid workers in our city are especially vunerable right now. But they always are, because they have nothing to protect them (certainly not federal law) from cruel working conditions. Or bosses, who don't accept that everyone is in the same boat right now.

    The SEPTA System could be so much more, I agree. But the workers are right on this one. They deserve what they fight for. Can we say that we've fought for what we deserve?
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  43. Everyone is missing the point. Everyone no matter what his or her job is thinks they are worth more - human nature. The real deal is SEPTA and the Unions are not communicating ( consistently) about profits and loss in the real world. There should never be a strike if SEPTA and the UNION have access to the same financial data. Hell!, hire me as a consultant and I'll show them how it's done. It's always about money in it's various forms. You can't wait until the last minute and complain about benefits, the Union needs to see the figures all year and keep their people informed of what's real. The rest of this is a result of the UNION not doing their job in term of being financially informed. I can consult for the union. Contact me at buyitech@yahoo.com
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  44. The was an error in my November 06, 2006
    anonymous comments. I can consult for the UNION at buyhitech@yahoo.com
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  45. People are looking at this the wrong way. I hear a lot of "oh, my pension/401k sucks. It's greedy for TWU to strike for that." What you should be saying is, "oh, my pension/401k sucks. I should be fighting back the same way TWU is to secure that for myself and my coworkers."

    It's an inconvenience to everyone, including me. That is exactly what a strike is supposed to be. It is to prove to you, the resident, and the city and management that they depend so much on the workers.

    So yes, unions are most definitely relevant in 2009.
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  46. How can we expect folks that are to dumb, scared, ignorant or brainwashed to organize themselves at their workplaces to undrstand the principles behind collective action, solidarity, equality and justice... The hell with e'm. They can go kiss their bosses ass and step on co-workers heads and throats to get to the top. Make mine UNION!
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  47. Organize 1: Your post is pretty ironic considering that stepping on people's throats to get a better deal is EXACTLY what the strikers are doing to the rest of this city. Oh but it's okay because they're a union and everything unions do is for the best, right? Sheesh, talk about brainwashed.
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  48. ...then i guess its a good thing TWU chose the dumbest, most ignorant, brainwashed scum as their leadership during the strike. i could eat a box of alphabits and shit out something more classy and eloquent than any of the vitriolic 2nd-grade garbage spewing from willie brown's mouth. i hope septa offers them nothing.
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  49. I think that this septa strike only affects the poor working class God knows I haven't had a raise in two years but Iam blessed to have a job and further more a lot of us won't live to see social security or a pension I had a neighbor who could not wait to retire and use to tell me how she was counting down the days and eight months before retirement came she was stricken with aggressive form of cancer and died my point is thank God your working and have means to feed your families because things are not going to get better they are going to get worst!!!
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  50. This comment has been removed by the author.
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  51. apparently when you 'shit out the box of alphabits,' it doesn't come with a grammar check, anonymous. i'm glad you're worried about the working class, as these folks, SEPTA workers, are working class. this strike was brought on after going without a contract since April. you have no one to blame but the management.
    i'm also glad that you're upset with willie brown's eloquence, because you have nothing substantive to offer to this discussion.
    if you want a raise, fight for one and stop bitching. closed mouths don't get fed.
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  52. guess we know who's taking over willie's spokesperson position for the next strike...
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