Get to work

Just to be clear, I was not inclined to indulge the Septa strike from day one. Now, hearing TWA union boss Willie Brown whine about how he's the "most hated man in Philadelphia" and listening to him call Mayor Nutter "Little Ceasar" for "bringing nothing to the table" and claiming "He has destroyed any good faith we had to try to negotiate a contract," I'm really done with this tone deaf union.

Does the TWA remember remember the tears of Philadelphians as the city was forced to close the libraries? How about the city pools? How about closing some of the city's fire stations, for God's sake?

Maybe you think that this is all about power hungry unions who are feeling their oats in a Democratically controlled union sympathetic national leadership. Or perhaps you are thinking that that they are just being greedy, looking to secure their pensions and a 4% raise in an age when most private sector employees have seen their pensions frozen or eliminated and have seen cuts in their pay (if they are lucky enough to still be employed).

You are missing one important subtlty.

As with seemingly everything these days, race is, of course, a factor:

Observers familiar with the delicate, racially tinged interplay between SEPTA and the TWU see more at issue than money. Brown is a first-term president facing an election in 10 months. In taking his membership out on strike, observers said, he shows he's tough enough to stand up to SEPTA.

Many union workers are African American, the agency managers largely white. Everything between the sides filters through a prism of suspicion and distrust. Last year, Brown said contract negotiations would center on getting workers "the respect and dignity they deserve."

Yesterday, he hammered at what he said was an unfair disparity in how SEPTA funds pensions for managers and workers.

"We were forced into a strike," he said. "We will stay out as long as it takes to secure our pension."

"Forced into a strike," indeed. They held the city hostage over the weekend with the threat of transportation shortage during a potential World Series victory. They are blocking service at those suburban bus and rail stations that are running and what public transportation is running is running with heavy delays. Traffic for commuters is a nightmare not only in the city, but in the surrounding counties. A train fire on the R5 Paoli Thorndale line shut the line down yesterday; Septa claims this was an electrical fire; however, most of the public's initial reaction was suspicion that this incident was union mischief. What does that thought process say about the relationship between the TWA and the City they serve?

But back to those "racially tinged" negotiations. I'm not sure I can see how race plays into this, other than as a another bludgeon the union is using in order to guilt money out of the government where there is none. I'm done with this overplayed strategy, too.

As this strike rolls on, let's not forget one important thing: Septa survives only because they are heavily subsidized by tax payer money. If they win, we lose. And the longer they don't win, we lose. The union knows this and they don't care.