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In
America, Selfishness and Lack of Solidarity Know No Bounds
9 November 2009 By
Dave Lindorff
As the strike by
transit workers in Philadelphia enters its fifth day,
it is clear why unions have such a tough time in the
United States, where fewer than one in eight workers
is covered by a union contract.
Although the average pay of transit workers is just
$50,000 a year (that represents take-home pay of less
than $35,000 take-home after taxes or less than $3000
a month to live on for a typical family of four), the
suburbanites who feel put out because they have to
brave huge traffic jams to get to and from work in the
city are grousing that the transit workers are greedy
for holding out for a slightly-less-than 4% per year
pay increase over the three years of their contract.
I just got into a debate at the local YMCA gym with an
older guy who probably makes over $100,000 a year and
whose children are already grown, who was incensed
that the "greedy bus and subway drivers" were asking
for a raise at this time "with the economy in such a
mess."
But I also noticed, as I drove my son into school this
week in the traffic crush, that these same
suburbanites are, for the most part, continuing to
drive to work one to a car. What a lack of creativity!
My wife, who frequently travels to Rome to do
research, has on several occasions landed in that city
during one of its frequent transit strikes. She
reports that the people of this ancient city take
these job actions in stride, getting out their
bicycles, taking leisurely walks to school, or simply
going on holiday for the duration. People don't get
mad at the workers. In Italy, it's understood that
when one group of workers fights for better pay or
working conditions, everyone benefits in the end.
This fellow I was arguing with about the Philly
transit strike, said, "It's not like this is the 1920s
or '30s, when unions were really needed because people
were being exploited."
"Oh really?" I said. "You don't think the workers at
Wal-Mart or in your local supermarket are being
exploited?" The truth is that working conditions for
American workers have been getting progressively worse
in recent years, while pay has actually been falling
in real dollars, because union representation has been
falling for several decades from a high of over 35%
back in the early 1950s. Those unions, like the
transit workers union in Philadelphia, which are still
fighting the good fight, are really all that stands
between ordinary American workers and a truly
nightmarish return to a Dickensian era.
Does anyone believe that the type of manager that we
have seen pillaging the economy on Wall Street, or
stealing jobs and already earned pay from workers at
Republic Window & Door in Chicago, is an exception to
the rule? Hell no. American managers are congenitally
ruthless exploiters of human beings constrained only
by unions or their fear of unions, and by the
protective legislation, such as minimum wage laws,
occupational safety and health laws, etc., which
Congress has grudgingly passed because of the pressure
from unions and their workers.
We should all be cheering the workers of the Transport
Workers Union Local 234 in Philadelphia for their grit
and determination in standing up to the management of
the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation
Authority. Their fight is our fight. They like us are
struggling to pay rent or mortgage bills, to buy food
for their families, and to pay their medical bills.
Workers all around the Philadelphia area should be
organizing car-pools, getting their bikes out of the
garage, and collectively telling their own bosses to
cut them some slack if they're late to work or have to
stay home for the day because of the strike.
We should also all be writing letters condemning the
bias of the local media in Philadelphia, which have as
a group focused entirely on the hardship to commuters
caused by the strike, and not at all on the issues
confronted by the transit workers themselves.
Furthermore, it is not the fault of the SEPTA workers
in Philadelphia that bus and subway fares are too
high. Nor is it their responsibility to accept low
wages to subsidize lower fares. It is the
responsibility of the state of Pennsylvania to keep
those fares affordable. Mass transit cannot and should
not be self-financing. It is a social good. It helps
protect the environment by reducing air pollution from
cars, reduces wear and tear on roadways, and helps
reduce the nation's dependence upon oil imports.
Instead of complaining about the union for calling a
strike, we should all be cheering them on. America
needs more labor militancy, not less.
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