Almost every morning, I sit next to the same woman on the trolley on the way to work. If I catch the 6:36 a.m. trolley, I can almost bet on sitting next to this middle-aged, black woman with close-cropped hair and who seems very dignified. We sit in the very first row on the trolley.
I never speak to her, and she never speaks to me, which seems awkward given that we sit next to each other all the time. I mean, I get that I'm not on the trolley to make friends, but it just feels weird.
On the other hand, do you remember the man from Mozambique that I met awhile back when a different woman let her three kids sit in trolley seats when adults were left standing in the aisle? I've seen him a few times since (most recently on the Thursday before Rhinebeck), and every time he and I see each other, we strike up a conversation. I now know where he works (a large local bakery), his work shift (pretty much all day, nearly every day), and that he brings home seconds for his friend.
In the category of random: It annoys me when the trolley is crowded and people insist on standing in the aisle when seats are available. I get the mentality of "I'm getting off soon, so I don't need to sit down," but as one of the people who is getting off BEFORE those people and now has to fight my way between all the bodies with my groceries, workbag, or whatever, I would really rather you just sat your ass down and got out of my (and everyone else's) way so we could exit the trolley without all this trouble.
And to the guy who stood in the empty row of seats... wtf????
Showing posts with label septa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label septa. Show all posts
25 October 2011
06 November 2009
SEPTA Strike: Day Four
SEPTA strikers, how dare you!
by Ronnie Polaneczky
YO, SEPTA WORKERS.
As a fellow trade-union member, I'm having a big problem with you, solidarity-wise.
Not only is your strike strangling the city - keeping kids from school, people from jobs, patients from doctors' appointments - but it's a thumbed-nose to something for which most folks reading this paper would give their back molars: The promise of a paycheck for the next 60 months.
I'm thinking about the 400 employees at Crozer Chester Medical Center who lost their jobs this year. And the 22 staffers axed last Thursday at Drinker Biddle & Reath. And the Comcast employees who learned on Wednesday that the cable giant plans to pink-slip a number of workers, even though the company is enjoying a fabulously profitable year.
Hell, it's a promise I wish we had right here at the Daily News.
We've lost dozens of staffers in recent years, and the paper's possible demise is a topic of endless speculation.
So let me get this straight: Unemployment is rampant in this region, and your union actually chose to strike rather than continue hammering out the details of your already excellent jobs? Jobs that we, the transit-dependent public, need you to perform so that our own financially teetering lives don't crash and burn?
Where do you people get off?
Your good jobs would only get better with SEPTA's opening offer - a deal that Gov. Rendell rightly described as "sensational." The contract calls for you to pocket a signing bonus of $1,250, just for agreeing to the damn thing. It would give you a 2.5 percent raise next year. And a 3 percent annual increase for three years after that.
The proposal doesn't require you to donate even a nickel more to your health-care plan. Do you have any clue how sweet that is?
It even comes with an offer to increase pension contributions to 11 percent over the next five years. I know, your leadership disputes that figure. But at least you still have a pension to argue about. Not everyone is so lucky.
Yet you looked at all of this and said, "Let's walk out."
So, please, tell me: When you're behind the wheel of the bus, what planet are you driving on?
This is the part of my rant where I think I'm supposed to toss you a bone. To concede that interacting with the city's rough citizenry can be punishing to even the sunniest people in the transit business. That moving millions of people from here to there is so much more grueling than we could ever know.
Sorry, no bone.
Your 3 a.m. walk-off, which left tens of thousands of us stranded without notice, was outrageous. It cemented the worst belief about SEPTA workers - that you hold us, the people who pay your wages through taxes and the fare box, in contempt. Good luck trying to improve that image once the wheels start rolling again.
Sadly, your strike also unfairly strengthens the perception that all unions are as entitled and grabby as you are. Your president, Willie Brown, actually said, "We agreed not to strike during the World Series. We took people to the game because we are professionals. Now it's time to reward us."
Reward you? For doing the jobs that we pay among the highest fares in the country for you to do?
Can we wipe your noses for you while we're at it?
You also have a bizarre notion that you're in some sort of profit-sharing relationship with SEPTA. Brown has pointed out that, while the economy is doing badly, SEPTA is not. Ridership is up, and the agency has gotten money from state and stimulus funds. So, your warped thinking goes, you're entitled to a fatter slice of the pie.
News flash: It's not your pie. It's ours. If SEPTA is flush, it's incumbent on the agency to plow that money back into new equipment, improved routes and - here's a fun idea - customer-service training for workers whose job protection keeps them from caring whether they snarl or smile at us.
Are there some outstanding issues you have with SEPTA management? No doubt. All grown-ups have issues with the boss. Unlike you, though, what we don't have is the ability to hold a city hostage for as long as our tantrum lasts.
So, please, get back to work. And admit that your negotiating hasn't been just about getting more for yourselves.
It's been about getting more - much, much more - than the rest of us.
by Ronnie Polaneczky
YO, SEPTA WORKERS.
As a fellow trade-union member, I'm having a big problem with you, solidarity-wise.
Not only is your strike strangling the city - keeping kids from school, people from jobs, patients from doctors' appointments - but it's a thumbed-nose to something for which most folks reading this paper would give their back molars: The promise of a paycheck for the next 60 months.
I'm thinking about the 400 employees at Crozer Chester Medical Center who lost their jobs this year. And the 22 staffers axed last Thursday at Drinker Biddle & Reath. And the Comcast employees who learned on Wednesday that the cable giant plans to pink-slip a number of workers, even though the company is enjoying a fabulously profitable year.
Hell, it's a promise I wish we had right here at the Daily News.
We've lost dozens of staffers in recent years, and the paper's possible demise is a topic of endless speculation.
So let me get this straight: Unemployment is rampant in this region, and your union actually chose to strike rather than continue hammering out the details of your already excellent jobs? Jobs that we, the transit-dependent public, need you to perform so that our own financially teetering lives don't crash and burn?
Where do you people get off?
Your good jobs would only get better with SEPTA's opening offer - a deal that Gov. Rendell rightly described as "sensational." The contract calls for you to pocket a signing bonus of $1,250, just for agreeing to the damn thing. It would give you a 2.5 percent raise next year. And a 3 percent annual increase for three years after that.
The proposal doesn't require you to donate even a nickel more to your health-care plan. Do you have any clue how sweet that is?
It even comes with an offer to increase pension contributions to 11 percent over the next five years. I know, your leadership disputes that figure. But at least you still have a pension to argue about. Not everyone is so lucky.
Yet you looked at all of this and said, "Let's walk out."
So, please, tell me: When you're behind the wheel of the bus, what planet are you driving on?
This is the part of my rant where I think I'm supposed to toss you a bone. To concede that interacting with the city's rough citizenry can be punishing to even the sunniest people in the transit business. That moving millions of people from here to there is so much more grueling than we could ever know.
Sorry, no bone.
Your 3 a.m. walk-off, which left tens of thousands of us stranded without notice, was outrageous. It cemented the worst belief about SEPTA workers - that you hold us, the people who pay your wages through taxes and the fare box, in contempt. Good luck trying to improve that image once the wheels start rolling again.
Sadly, your strike also unfairly strengthens the perception that all unions are as entitled and grabby as you are. Your president, Willie Brown, actually said, "We agreed not to strike during the World Series. We took people to the game because we are professionals. Now it's time to reward us."
Reward you? For doing the jobs that we pay among the highest fares in the country for you to do?
Can we wipe your noses for you while we're at it?
You also have a bizarre notion that you're in some sort of profit-sharing relationship with SEPTA. Brown has pointed out that, while the economy is doing badly, SEPTA is not. Ridership is up, and the agency has gotten money from state and stimulus funds. So, your warped thinking goes, you're entitled to a fatter slice of the pie.
News flash: It's not your pie. It's ours. If SEPTA is flush, it's incumbent on the agency to plow that money back into new equipment, improved routes and - here's a fun idea - customer-service training for workers whose job protection keeps them from caring whether they snarl or smile at us.
Are there some outstanding issues you have with SEPTA management? No doubt. All grown-ups have issues with the boss. Unlike you, though, what we don't have is the ability to hold a city hostage for as long as our tantrum lasts.
So, please, get back to work. And admit that your negotiating hasn't been just about getting more for yourselves.
It's been about getting more - much, much more - than the rest of us.
04 November 2009
SEPTA Strike
Yep, another strike.
My life is all about strikes right now. As a lot of you know right now (either from my status messages on Gchat, my incessant phone calls, or my nonstop IMs), SEPTA (that's the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority - or mass/public transit - to you non-locals) is on strike.
Their contract expired last March, but they didn't strike then because they wisely decided that it wasn't in their best interest to strike then. They issued a statement then that they recognised that it wasn't a good to strike, that too many people were depending on them to get to jobs, etc. Then, last week, they suddenly decided that they couldn't work without a contract any more and that they would strike at 12:01 a.m. Saturday morning.
And, oh, it was just a coincidence that this was the same weekend as three World Series games, three Pearl Jam concerts, a Philadelphia Flyers game, and a Philadelphia Eagles game. Now, for you non-locals, all of these events take place in the same area - the Sports Complex in South Philly. And the best, fastest, easiest way to get there? The Broad Street Subway.
Governor Rendell finally stepped in and threatened to withhold SEPTA's state funding if they went on strike. So they didn't. And the city breathed a collective sigh of relief. And all was well.
Until the Philly part of the World Series ended in the wee hours on Monday. People went to sleep happy because the Phillies had won, extending the Series. Not knowing that SEPTA employees would walk out mere hours later.
Tuesday morning, I woke up at 5:20 a.m., got ready for work, walked to my trolley stop and waited. And a women walked by and informed me that I shouldn't continue to wait for the trolley because SEPTA went on strike as of 3:00 a.m. that morning. WTF???
So I walked to the nearest train station. Last week, I had purchased a train pass, in case they went on strike (it only costs $6 more than my usual pass since I'm in Zone 1 so, for me, it wasn't much of a gamble) so that was okay. I walked the five blocks to the train stop, practically running so I could catch the first train, mistakenly thinking it came at 6:15 (it comes at 6:07). However, it didn't come until 6:39 anyway. So I ran (in my dress shoes and work clothes) for nothing. Yay me.
I meet up with my coworker on the train. We get off at the main university campus stop, which is two miles from the hospital campus. My coworker and I end up meeting up with some other random hospital worker, so now there are three of us facing a two-mile walk to the hospital. My coworker decides he doesn't want to walk, so we get to red light, he picks a car, knocks on the window, asks the guy if he's going up to the hospital and if he minds giving the three of us a ride!!!! AND THE GUYS SAYS OKAY!!!!
So, yeah, we hitched a ride. And the guy didn't kill us. Getting home was another story. I had to walk the two miles from the hospital to the main campus, catch the train, and get off in the city because I had an appointment. Then to actually get home, I had to wait in a long-ass hour-long line at the train station. At each station, they only let a certain number of people get on so that they can still guarantee people getting on at each station, which is pretty smart of them.
Today, instead of hitching a ride with a random person this morning, we flagged down a random empty SCHOOL BUS. Yeah, you heard me. The hospital is supposed to run shuttles, but all HR will tell us is that the shuttles run a 40-minute loop and that the shuttles are clearly marked with the university logo in front. Well, this bus was clearly marked with the Philadelphia Eagles logo all over. And one of the women in our group flagged it down and asked him if he was going by the hospital. He said he was, so he gave us a ride.
Who knows what tomorrow's adventure will be.
Oh, and by the way. The offer the SEPTA union turned down?
Wages: No raise this year, but a $1,250 ratification bonus; a 2.5% raise in Year 2, and 3% raise in Years 3, 4, and 5. An 11% increase in pension contributions, and no increase in workers' contributions to health insurance benefits for five years.
My life is all about strikes right now. As a lot of you know right now (either from my status messages on Gchat, my incessant phone calls, or my nonstop IMs), SEPTA (that's the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority - or mass/public transit - to you non-locals) is on strike.
Their contract expired last March, but they didn't strike then because they wisely decided that it wasn't in their best interest to strike then. They issued a statement then that they recognised that it wasn't a good to strike, that too many people were depending on them to get to jobs, etc. Then, last week, they suddenly decided that they couldn't work without a contract any more and that they would strike at 12:01 a.m. Saturday morning.
And, oh, it was just a coincidence that this was the same weekend as three World Series games, three Pearl Jam concerts, a Philadelphia Flyers game, and a Philadelphia Eagles game. Now, for you non-locals, all of these events take place in the same area - the Sports Complex in South Philly. And the best, fastest, easiest way to get there? The Broad Street Subway.
Governor Rendell finally stepped in and threatened to withhold SEPTA's state funding if they went on strike. So they didn't. And the city breathed a collective sigh of relief. And all was well.
Until the Philly part of the World Series ended in the wee hours on Monday. People went to sleep happy because the Phillies had won, extending the Series. Not knowing that SEPTA employees would walk out mere hours later.
Tuesday morning, I woke up at 5:20 a.m., got ready for work, walked to my trolley stop and waited. And a women walked by and informed me that I shouldn't continue to wait for the trolley because SEPTA went on strike as of 3:00 a.m. that morning. WTF???
So I walked to the nearest train station. Last week, I had purchased a train pass, in case they went on strike (it only costs $6 more than my usual pass since I'm in Zone 1 so, for me, it wasn't much of a gamble) so that was okay. I walked the five blocks to the train stop, practically running so I could catch the first train, mistakenly thinking it came at 6:15 (it comes at 6:07). However, it didn't come until 6:39 anyway. So I ran (in my dress shoes and work clothes) for nothing. Yay me.
I meet up with my coworker on the train. We get off at the main university campus stop, which is two miles from the hospital campus. My coworker and I end up meeting up with some other random hospital worker, so now there are three of us facing a two-mile walk to the hospital. My coworker decides he doesn't want to walk, so we get to red light, he picks a car, knocks on the window, asks the guy if he's going up to the hospital and if he minds giving the three of us a ride!!!! AND THE GUYS SAYS OKAY!!!!
So, yeah, we hitched a ride. And the guy didn't kill us. Getting home was another story. I had to walk the two miles from the hospital to the main campus, catch the train, and get off in the city because I had an appointment. Then to actually get home, I had to wait in a long-ass hour-long line at the train station. At each station, they only let a certain number of people get on so that they can still guarantee people getting on at each station, which is pretty smart of them.
Today, instead of hitching a ride with a random person this morning, we flagged down a random empty SCHOOL BUS. Yeah, you heard me. The hospital is supposed to run shuttles, but all HR will tell us is that the shuttles run a 40-minute loop and that the shuttles are clearly marked with the university logo in front. Well, this bus was clearly marked with the Philadelphia Eagles logo all over. And one of the women in our group flagged it down and asked him if he was going by the hospital. He said he was, so he gave us a ride.
Who knows what tomorrow's adventure will be.
Oh, and by the way. The offer the SEPTA union turned down?
Wages: No raise this year, but a $1,250 ratification bonus; a 2.5% raise in Year 2, and 3% raise in Years 3, 4, and 5. An 11% increase in pension contributions, and no increase in workers' contributions to health insurance benefits for five years.
22 April 2009
General life update
I was going to post tonight about a few things: Sara's recent visit, getting to meet Ria, potential travel next month (friends getting married in Connecticut), and work crap.
But after getting up at 5:00 a.m. to shower (because I FORGOT to last night when I got home from my trig mid-term), then working a 10.5-hour day... I found myself almost too tired to eat supper when I got home.
So I'll leave you with these random thoughts: (1) Please fill out the questionnaire from yesterday if you haven't already done so; (2) Really? No one wants to join the Marketplace? It's actually pretty groovy - restaurant gift cards for CHEAP, discounts on electronics, and weekly bargains. According to the email we got on Monday, employees are saving an average of $102 per month using the Marketplace. This week ONLY, I have ten invitations I can give away free. You know you want to!
P.S. I love the SEPTA (that's Philly's mass transit system) guy at the 40th Street Portal today. When I got on at the City Hall transfer point, the trolley driver said she was only going to 40th Street. While I would have walked the seven blocks to my house, I wasn't looking forward to it since I was tired (see above) and the sky was getting ready to open up any minute. But I got on anyway, not wanting to wait for the next one, which would be crowded. So I rode to 40th. When we got there, the guy supervising gave our driver a "WTF?" look. She said, "I kept telling them I was only going to 40th!" He said, "I told you to not to take any riders!" She said, "I'm supposed to be off at 6:25." He said, "I'm not putting riders off. Go to 61st (the turn-around point for that route) and come back - WITHOUT RIDERS." LOVE that guy.
But after getting up at 5:00 a.m. to shower (because I FORGOT to last night when I got home from my trig mid-term), then working a 10.5-hour day... I found myself almost too tired to eat supper when I got home.
So I'll leave you with these random thoughts: (1) Please fill out the questionnaire from yesterday if you haven't already done so; (2) Really? No one wants to join the Marketplace? It's actually pretty groovy - restaurant gift cards for CHEAP, discounts on electronics, and weekly bargains. According to the email we got on Monday, employees are saving an average of $102 per month using the Marketplace. This week ONLY, I have ten invitations I can give away free. You know you want to!
P.S. I love the SEPTA (that's Philly's mass transit system) guy at the 40th Street Portal today. When I got on at the City Hall transfer point, the trolley driver said she was only going to 40th Street. While I would have walked the seven blocks to my house, I wasn't looking forward to it since I was tired (see above) and the sky was getting ready to open up any minute. But I got on anyway, not wanting to wait for the next one, which would be crowded. So I rode to 40th. When we got there, the guy supervising gave our driver a "WTF?" look. She said, "I kept telling them I was only going to 40th!" He said, "I told you to not to take any riders!" She said, "I'm supposed to be off at 6:25." He said, "I'm not putting riders off. Go to 61st (the turn-around point for that route) and come back - WITHOUT RIDERS." LOVE that guy.
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