Brendan Writes a Column 0

and points out that, once again, working persons are getting the shaft.

There was column in today’s local rag suggesting that walkouts should be banned and that transit should be thrown open to competition.

The reason that SEPTA and other transit agencies exist is because the profit-making railroads and bus companies no longer wanted the business.

The writers conceded that the transit agency had been underfunding the pension fund (the primary issue in the strike, though not the only issue).

I worked in the passenger transportation industry for a long time. I did not work on the road, but I worked close enough to the road to know that it is damned hard work that goes on 365 days a year, with screwy hours and often obnoxious cargo that wants first class service at fourth class rates and thinks it is entitled to treat the employees like dirt.

But God forbid transit employees should expect to be treated like decent human beings and have management honor its promises, like, for example, just to mention one pulled out of thin air, to fund their damned pensions.

In other words, to put it bluntly, workers should just bend over and take it.