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SFist Tonight
Apparently, the world won't come to an end for BART riders on July 1. It seems the strike probably, most likely for all intents and purposes won't happen. (That is some shitty news, Bay Area bloggers and media outlets. A Bay Area-wide public transportation meltdown would've been traffic gold during the holiday week. Alas.) But do you know what will happen on Wednesday? Wide-reaching fare increases. Yay! What are those changes, you ask? Akit's Complaint Department has the lowdown. the skinny. the scoop. On Muni, Adult fare (cash) goes up to $2; the same goes for AC Transit. Ferry service goes up a tiny bit. And BART will see a 6.1% fare increase for all riders (that is to say, "Inter San Francisco fare increases to $1.75." (Which, as Akit points out, is still cheaper than Muni.) Read more about the changes, right here.
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Will my June MUNI Fastpass still work through July 3rd?!?
It's supposed to.
i can't believe anyone in this day and age will strike for a 3% raise, continue to enjoy 87/mo healthcare and fully funded pensions for the rest of their life.
unfuckingbelievable!!!!
Yeah, workers should take what they're given and be happy with it!!!!
hey joel,
this kind of flies in the face of your union's aren't the problem argument:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/25/BAOL18E6LU.DTL
actually, I'm not sure that it does.
article just seems to be stating the facts about the agreement to mediation and naming the mediator.
or was I supposed to read the screed of anti-union comments written by Fresno & Bakersfield's finest?
And as a former hourly employee, if BART had gone on strike during any of those previous escapades I would have been forced to stop working myself. It's not like I can just not cross a picket line and work somewhere else. This is critical infrastucture, like the military, drinking water, and air traffic control. In an extended strike, companies will go out of business or leave the City for good. As far as I'm concerned it should be like Reagan did with air traffic controllers in the 80s: fire them all and let them work at WalMart the rest of their lives.
How so? Most (all?) of the unions have proposed extending the existing contracts to avoid a strike. And a 3% raise (0.5% the first two, and 2% the last) spread out over three years doesn't seem particularly excessive to me. It's my understanding that the 3% raise was simply the unions thumbing their noses at BART's hard line stance on demanding pay cuts. The initial union offer was for a two year no-raise, reduced benefits contract vs management's four year contract with a large pay cut stance.
CoCo Times has a list online of each BART employee's salary. You might not be working 'till 3am, but with the amount of overtime being paid out there are most definitely some very long work weeks.
All of that overtime is likely cheaper than the fringe benefits liabilities of additional employees. In fact I suspect that the union's concessions on benefits will do more to drive down the cost of BART labor (and potentially encourage the hiring of more full-time employees) than reduced salaries.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_12682351?nclick_check=1
I have to say that it is hard to sympathize with MUNI or BART folks when their pay/benefits package is quite a bit bigger than mine, and something tells me they don't have to stay at the office til 3:30am or work on the weekends occasionally either.
They probably can't surf the web while they are supposed to be working either
Some people take smoke breaks, I take blog breaks ... this is a blog break, and I was actually on lunch earlier ...
Seriously? Perhaps its time to start looking for a better job dude.
there will be a strike, bart will cave on the 3% raise to the union. we will all continue to not be able to afford to retire or go to the doctor.
we are a fucked country.
>> we are a fucked country.
It is only San Francisco that is utterly dependent on BART for its survival. The rest of the country, indeed the rest of the Bay Area, will be utterly dependent on old fashioned, Earth-destroying free enterprise, while the City will enter a glorious new future with 700,000 stay-at-home bloggers: Irony will flow in the streets like a burst water main, and creativity will flourish like an exploding PG&E transformer vault.
LMAO!!!!!!!!!
made my day!
thank you!
Yeah, that was pretty awesome.
FTW.
I'm officially buying a 1974 Lincoln Continental 4-door, 460Cu in engine. 4pmg city, 8hwy. It takes up 2 1/2 normal parking spaces as well.
And the money I spend on gas is much less than trying to afford a $2000/mo studio in a safe neighborhood.
And no, I'm not carpooling any of your skanky, stinky, nail clipping, iPod listening, MUNI riding, Starbucks spilling, sunflower seed spitting, unwashed asses around.
; )
good, the endless repeats of brian sussman shows were getting old anyway.
Wait, where'd you get the photo of Gavin on Muni?
My bet is on Photoshop
Muni was one of my favorite things in this city when I moved here and it was a dollar. Now that it's two I'm beginning to notice how horrible more than half the drivers are, how crappy the schedules are, and how horrible more than half the drivers are. Did I mention I'm starting to hate the majority of Muni drivers and all their sadistic, lazy attitudes? I think it bares repeating.
Truth man. But if you want to see real insanity, try driving.
Or worse yet, get in a cab. Then you'll see what constant city driving does to someone. It's not pretty.
oh joel!!!!
http://www.ktvu.com/news/19898567/detail.html
BART And Union Leaders Appear To Remain Far Apart In Talks
"Oh joel!!!!!" what.
I'm not sure what posting that article was supposed to prove--that the two sides are still trying to navigate the extremely difficult task of hammering out a satisfactory, feasible solution? That's not news.
i guess we just have to agree to disagree. i'm presuming that you think that unions are entitled to whatever they can negotiate, even if it means driving the company or service out of business.
i do not.
You missed that Fast Passes have gone up to $55, too. (or so says my pay stub)