Bo Gus, the union is not greedy. A union cannot be greedy. Grabbing from taxpayers? No, grabbing from overpaid city workers. Fire all the management. Let the union have full control over Metro Transit, from the bottom to the top. That will free up funds, and I trust Ken Wilson would be just as successful running Metro Transit as he currently has been doing running the union local.
Besides, the city is asking the workers to take a 20k a year pay cut. How would you like to be only making 50k to 55k a year? You simply cannot expect a person to support themself, much less a family, on 50k a year.
The bus drivers are working in conditions just like those coal miners, and report after report has shown that many of them are barely scraping by paycheck to paycheck. Right now, they make 50k a year before overtime, and they need to work a lot of extra hours to get a reasonable 70k a year. The fat cats in city hall want to take that away from them, reduce them to less than 55k a year.
Don't let them! Like the song says, "I'll stick with the union / 'Til every battle's won." Every battle is worth fighting, and the union should not give in on anything great or small. Eventually, the city will start negotiating in good faith and give the workers what they need to live in basic human dignaty.
Yes, paying the drivers what they currently make, what they DESERVE, will mean transit fares need to be increased. I noted below that a fare of $3.50 should likely be able to go a long way to cover the difference. I realize that some people won’t be able to pay that, but the only alternative would be to pay drivers less than they currently make. That should be recognized as innately unacceptable.
The union would not be striking if their position was unreasonable. Only the fat cat corporations and corrupt politicians of the world take stances that are contrary to the greater good. By opposing the unions on this, you are supporting the fat cats and the conservatives. If any of their benefits are clawed back by the fat cats, it's a blow to us all. There are too few jobs as it is where a person can make $70,000 a year with only a high school diploma, and you want to eliminate one. Shame on you.
Look, it's simple: the drivers are making $72,000 a year on average when overtime is considered. The union should not settle for less than they're currently making, especially if they're giving up their ability to make over 20k a year through overtime. It's just not fair to them. A union stands for the people, all people, and by nature fights for their rights. They should never give in to the fat cat industrialists or corrupt city officials, not in anything great or small.
I find it sickening that anyone would side against a workers union. If you oppose the union, then you oppose us all. The city has not dealt with the union in good faith; there are some issues where the city has refused to yield any ground. Therefore, the union should not settle until the city has met all of their demands in full.
Mr. Kelly needs to do the responsible thing and go to Ken Wilson, and ask him what deal the union needs to end the strike. Every day that the city delays in providing the union with the fair wages they deserve just makes it harder on the working poor of the city.
The city should definitely give the bus drivers what they want, either the freedom to keep their current scheduling or an immediate pay raise to $72,000 a year with a 2.5% pay increase per year every year going forward if the drivers will lose their current scheduling. The city has no right to pay the drivers any less than their currently making.
However, it will need to be paid for. Raising transit fares to $3.50 a ride and bus passes to $112 per month would probably be necessary. But that's the price that I think we're all willing to pay to keep the drivers making an acceptable wage.
I read the article, I see "The plant is now working as designed" and that it stayed under budget and I consider the plant to be a success. It does what it was supposed to do, and it cost us less than it was budgeted to cost. Perhaps it fails to provide safe low income housing, nor does it provide urban grown organic vegetables, and it's not acting as a bastion of culture that provides a stage and a champion for local artistic talent - but then, that's not what it's for.
It's for processing waste water. It does what it's designed to do, for less than it was supposed to cost. That's a success.
Joeblow, I said that there have been few human beings in history who bear so much responsibility for so much needless death and suffering, not that there have been none bearing greater responsibility. You have named two that are responsible for more. There's a third that's easy to name. It would be easy to throw in names like Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, and the various high ranking henchmen of the leaders with the most blood on their hands. Perhaps you can make a decent sized list with a hundred or more people. Even if you could, it would not change Churchill's place on that list.
For all of his positive accomplishments, Churchill is directly responsible for human suffering and death on a scale far, far greater than Cornwallis planned, let alone accomplished.
Those who want Cornwallis' honours removed on the basis of his murderous orders should do the logical thing, and campaign for Churchill's statue to be removed, on the basis of the mass murder that he ordered.
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Besides, the city is asking the workers to take a 20k a year pay cut. How would you like to be only making 50k to 55k a year? You simply cannot expect a person to support themself, much less a family, on 50k a year.
Don't let them! Like the song says, "I'll stick with the union / 'Til every battle's won." Every battle is worth fighting, and the union should not give in on anything great or small. Eventually, the city will start negotiating in good faith and give the workers what they need to live in basic human dignaty.
The union would not be striking if their position was unreasonable. Only the fat cat corporations and corrupt politicians of the world take stances that are contrary to the greater good. By opposing the unions on this, you are supporting the fat cats and the conservatives. If any of their benefits are clawed back by the fat cats, it's a blow to us all. There are too few jobs as it is where a person can make $70,000 a year with only a high school diploma, and you want to eliminate one. Shame on you.
Look, it's simple: the drivers are making $72,000 a year on average when overtime is considered. The union should not settle for less than they're currently making, especially if they're giving up their ability to make over 20k a year through overtime. It's just not fair to them. A union stands for the people, all people, and by nature fights for their rights. They should never give in to the fat cat industrialists or corrupt city officials, not in anything great or small.
I find it sickening that anyone would side against a workers union. If you oppose the union, then you oppose us all. The city has not dealt with the union in good faith; there are some issues where the city has refused to yield any ground. Therefore, the union should not settle until the city has met all of their demands in full.
Mr. Kelly needs to do the responsible thing and go to Ken Wilson, and ask him what deal the union needs to end the strike. Every day that the city delays in providing the union with the fair wages they deserve just makes it harder on the working poor of the city.
However, it will need to be paid for. Raising transit fares to $3.50 a ride and bus passes to $112 per month would probably be necessary. But that's the price that I think we're all willing to pay to keep the drivers making an acceptable wage.
It's for processing waste water. It does what it's designed to do, for less than it was supposed to cost. That's a success.
For all of his positive accomplishments, Churchill is directly responsible for human suffering and death on a scale far, far greater than Cornwallis planned, let alone accomplished.
Those who want Cornwallis' honours removed on the basis of his murderous orders should do the logical thing, and campaign for Churchill's statue to be removed, on the basis of the mass murder that he ordered.