Well, we're sure some of you are pissed off about the BART strike, and some of youmost likely those of who don't have to suffer commute traumaare more sympathetic to the labor cause. The media (and some SFist commenters) have been pretty harsh toward BART workers, largely because of reports about their compensation, but is this fair? Do we just live in a society where unions and their 80-year-old tactics have lost relevance? Or is this partly an issue of the fact that unionized labor is, by and large, all in the public sector these days, and the rest of us in the private sector are just bitter?
Michael Krasny took up the topic on KQED's Forum this morning, speaking with experts on labor like UC Berkeley professor Harley Shaiken, and Labor Relations Institute president Phil Wilson. Both Shaiken and Wilson point to the fact that only 14 million Americans, or about 1 in 10, are unionized these days, versus about 1 in 3 back in the 1950s, and vast majority of them are in the public sector. The tides of public opinion have turned against them, therefore, but that doesn't mean that the things they fight for aren't helping a large number of Americans, including those in the private sector. Wilson points to the "alt-labor" movement which recently staged strikes involving fast food workers earning minimum wage.
The Nation points out how the media's coverage of the BART strike is reflective of a negative attitude toward unions as "greedy" which isn't so well founded. The fact remains that BART is facing a budget surplus over the next ten years, and workers have not had a bump in wages in five years though they already received a wage bump on Monday of 1 percent.
Now, senior BART management may be making in the low to mid six figures, as this database of public employee salaries shows, but the average BART worker makes around $83,000, up from $80,000 in 2010. BART management last weekend had agreed as of the last reports to an 8 percent increase over the next five years, but the unions are pushing for a 21.5 percent increase, or 4.5 percent annually.
The labor-friendly SF Bay Guardian has not really weighed in yet on the strike itself, however they did present a labor-friendly breakdown of the issues at stake prior to the strike, focusing on the unions' party line with regard to safety concerns something most other media has treated as a smokescreen for the wage and benefits negotiations.
The Associated Press points today to the fact that the strike is a boon for ridesharing apps like Uber, Sidecar, and that Avego company that was running that free helicopter ride promotion dubbed BART Airlift.
The Mercury News has been quick to gather quotes from angry commuters, and so has The Chronicle, and meanwhile the New York Times managed to find two people who had been living under a rock all of last week and had no idea BART was on strike until they got to empty stations. Neither of them gets any union members on the record, or union sympathizers, only union spokespeople.
Also, Bay Area News Group talks to various residents who may not travel so far for fireworks tomorrow, given the clusterfuck that is bound to occur on every bridge.
Deep breaths, everyone! And try to enjoy the holiday. Maybe, just maybe, there will be trains to get you around for fireworks and barbecues tomorrow. But probably not.
