Commute times were cut in half as citizens realized they could walk faster than the Philly subway

Unions suck and have outlived their purpose.

I think there's been a septa strike or threat of one almost every year as far back as I remember.


/HATES septa

You get paid well, have good benefits, so you stage a surprise strike during a recession and fark over people trying to get to their morning jobs so you can get even more money while other people can't even find a shiatty job.


Wow. Just Wow.

So, there are no more World Series games to be played there?

tfa: Rendell said the union chose to walk away from an "excellent" contract offer that includes 11 percent in wage increases over five years, and 11 percent increase in pension contributions, an no increases in workers' contribution for health care.

I really wish we could boycott them when these union farks get back. They had a raise built in their contract but it wasn't enough? Unemployment is at an all-time high, they should be happy to have freakin' jobs at all.

I like how the article contains nothing from the strikers' perspective. That's how you know it's fair and balanced, as opposed to being an anti-union hit piece.

Unions didn't learn shiat from auto industry did they?

Well, I guess it's good that they waited until the game was over.

/takes regional rail

I feel sorry for all the people that can not get to work today or as long as this lasts. Or older people that rely on the transportation system

Fark septa. That is all.

tfa: Gov. Rendell called the decision to strike before dawn "irresponsible."

There he goes... another Demotard Douche speaking out against his voter base. Watch him get re-elected easily. Inner city sheep.

The state (the city is not responsible for septa) should pull what Regan did to the air traffic controllers and let those farkers swing in the wind.

"Here is the contract. There are XXXX positions open, and we will put those on our web site, monster.com, etc. Qualified individuals are free to apply for these positions."

How many of YOU only have to contribute 1 percent of your pay to your own healthcare (out of your paycheck)? Not to mention the free Viagra.

F' em.

Pay the Man: tfa: Gov. Rendell called the decision to strike before dawn "irresponsible."

There he goes... another Demotard Douche speaking out against his voter base. Watch him get re-elected easily. Inner city sheep.

_{Psst..he's in his second term. He can't get run again. Term limits.}

Hey Septa, take a step back, AND LITERALLY fark YOUR OWN FACE!

MBrady: Pay the Man: tfa: Gov. Rendell called the decision to strike before dawn "irresponsible."

There he goes... another Demotard Douche speaking out against his voter base. Watch him get re-elected easily. Inner city sheep.

Psst..he's in his second term. He can't get run again. Term limits.

I know that, and you know that... but the inner city sheep don't. He'll still win the popular vote.

SEPTA == SEPTIC

Pay the Man2009-11-03 09:52:19 AM tfa: Gov. Rendell called the decision to strike before dawn "irresponsible."There he goes... another Demotard Douche speaking out against his voter base. Watch him get re-elected easily. Inner city sheep.

Last I heard, he wasn't gunning for another term, but thanks for playing.

Septa sucks, but I haven't had a day off of work in 2 weeks. I'm actually glad they're on strike today, because now I don't have to go to work.

WinoRhino: Unions suck and have outlived their purpose.
This is obviously said by somebody who has never worked in a place that needs a Union. Yes, there are unions out there that are unnecessary, but if you go into a lot of warehouses or factories. You'll find that even with a union, the workers are getting underpaid, poorly treated, and generally taken advantage of. I'm in a union at my job and I'd hate to think of what would happen if we didn't have one, we had to threaten to strike to get vacation time. It was a warehouse, and before our newest union contract, they didn't give us HEALTH INSURANCE. Now, a lot of jobs don't do that, but not a lot of jobs that involves actual manual labor and physical danger. So, yes, most unions are unnecessary, but there are places in which unions do a lot of good for the workers.

Pay the Man: MBrady: Pay the Man: tfa: Gov. Rendell called the decision to strike before dawn "irresponsible."

There he goes... another Demotard Douche speaking out against his voter base. Watch him get re-elected easily. Inner city sheep.

Psst..he's in his second term. He can't get run again. Term limits.

I know that, and you know that... but the inner city sheep don't. He'll still win the popular vote.

Wow, disaster averted by you....not.

You suck.

hazeleyedwolff: I really wish we could boycott them when these union farks get back. They had a raise built in their contract but it wasn't enough? Unemployment is at an all-time high, they should be happy to have freakin' jobs at all.

-Here in the Allentown area, the Saucon Valley teachers union decided that a 3.6% average yearly raise just wasn't good enough and went on strike in the middle of October. They thought that they could push for the sweetheart deal that the district offered (4.7% average yearly raise, no restrictions on diploma mills or useless coursework and no increase in healthcare contributions) before the recession hit. The union even had the stones to write to the local paper to complain about the public being angry with them for turning down 3.6% during a recession.

And, just last week, one of the private contractors who runs the school buses for Easton decided to go on strike in the middle of the night. Talk about inconsiderate.

MrCrazyInsane: Pay the Man2009-11-03 09:52:19 AM tfa: Gov. Rendell called the decision to strike before dawn "irresponsible."There he goes... another Demotard Douche speaking out against his voter base. Watch him get re-elected easily. Inner city sheep.

Last I heard, he wasn't gunning for another term, but thanks for playing.

Maybe not as governor, but he's a career jackass, which means he will continue to seek elective office or political appointment until his dying breath. Too bad that won't be soon enough...

Pay the Man: MrCrazyInsane: Pay the Man2009-11-03 09:52:19 AM tfa: Gov. Rendell called the decision to strike before dawn "irresponsible."There he goes... another Demotard Douche speaking out against his voter base. Watch him get re-elected easily. Inner city sheep.

Last I heard, he wasn't gunning for another term, but thanks for playing.

Maybe not as governor, but he's a career jackass, which means he will continue to seek elective office or political appointment until his dying breath. Too bad that won't be soon enough...

Dude. You screwed up. You're so ignorant of that of which you speak that there's no redeeming it, so stop trying to deflect. You said he would be re-elected, which he can't be, then you said he would be a political appointee, which is an entirely different issue (hey, are the "sheep-like" voters going to "appoint" him, doof-wad?) and does not in any way fix your embarrassing gaffe.

Stop typing before you hurt yourself.

MrCrazyInsane: Fark septa. That is all.

I took it for 6 months to and from work 13 miles away. It took a minimum of 3 buses and a hour and a half each way. After that six months I was homicidal.

There was always a steady supply of idiots playing crappy music through their cellphone's speakerphone at full volume, disgusting fat sweaty poor people eating buckets of KFC and throwing the bones right on the floor, and passed out drug addicts that have unknowingly released their bowels.

One day I was on a bus where this drunk guy threw up all over the back. How did they solve this problem? By covering it with newspaper. Not wiping it up, just putting a couple pages out of the Citypaper on top of it.

My only question is with Septa on strike where will the homeless people urinate?

/So happy to have a car now.

Pay the Man: MrCrazyInsane: Pay the Man2009-11-03 09:52:19 AM tfa: Gov. Rendell called the decision to strike before dawn "irresponsible."There he goes... another Demotard Douche speaking out against his voter base. Watch him get re-elected easily. Inner city sheep.

Last I heard, he wasn't gunning for another term, but thanks for playing.

Maybe not as governor, but he's a career jackass, which means he will continue to seek elective office or political appointment until his dying breath. Too bad that won't be soon enough...

You obviously have no idea what you are talking about. Give wikipedia a whirl for starters, then go from there.

All those public transportation commuters should buy their own car and help the economy. This is what you get for living in the city and relying on socialist transportation.

The Angry Hand of God: MrCrazyInsane: Fark septa. That is all.

I took it for 6 months to and from work 13 miles away. It took a minimum of 3 buses and a hour and a half each way. After that six months I was homicidal.

There was always a steady supply of idiots playing crappy music through their cellphone's speakerphone at full volume, disgusting fat sweaty poor people eating buckets of KFC and throwing the bones right on the floor, and passed out drug addicts that have unknowingly released their bowels.

One day I was on a bus where this drunk guy threw up all over the back. How did they solve this problem? By covering it with newspaper. Not wiping it up, just putting a couple pages out of the Citypaper on top of it.

My only question is with Septa on strike where will the homeless people urinate?

/So happy to have a car now.

I haven't had the pleasure of having a similar experience. I don't like septa because they feel it is ok to run red lights, cut off smaller vehicles, narrowly avoid hitting bicycles and pedestrians and still have the balls to try and hold a city/region hostage.

The roundabout at city hall is no fun when septa is in the mix. Fark them.

According to TWU officials, SEPTA management has proposed no wage increase for the first two years of a four-year contract and a 2 percent increase in each of the final two years. It also wanted to increase worker contributions to health coverage from 1 percent to 4 percent and freeze the level of pension benefits.

The union wants a 4 percent raise each year and health contributions to remain 1 percent. It is also seeking an increase in pension contributions from $75 to $100 for every year of service.

Hey TWU -- welcome to the real world. A lot of people had salary freezes this year and, with furloughs, salary decreases. And, when times get better, raises will probably be low for the next few years, definitely under 4%. And I'm not just talking about low wage/low skill workers. There are plenty of people who will be happy to learn to drive a train/trolley/bus for a salary freeze.

NaturalDrunkenPungence: Septa sucks, but I haven't had a day off of work in 2 weeks. I'm actually glad they're on strike today, because now I don't have to go to work.

WinoRhino: Unions suck and have outlived their purpose.
This is obviously said by somebody who has never worked in a place that needs a Union. Yes, there are unions out there that are unnecessary, but if you go into a lot of warehouses or factories. You'll find that even with a union, the workers are getting underpaid, poorly treated, and generally taken advantage of. I'm in a union at my job and I'd hate to think of what would happen if we didn't have one, we had to threaten to strike to get vacation time. It was a warehouse, and before our newest union contract, they didn't give us HEALTH INSURANCE. Now, a lot of jobs don't do that, but not a lot of jobs that involves actual manual labor and physical danger. So, yes, most unions are unnecessary, but there are places in which unions do a lot of good for the workers.

So what was stopping you from going to get your own? Oh and aren't you glad you now have to pay union dues and toe the line with them?
As to the physical danger aspect, I guarantee you the company has insurance (under which getting hurt at work would be covered)

The Angry Hand of God:

One day I was on a bus where this drunk guy threw up all over the back. How did they solve this problem? By covering it with newspaper. Not wiping it up, just putting a couple pages out of the Citypaper on top of it.
.
At least they finally found something useful to do with Citypaper.

/Don't forget about the teenagers screaming "Mind yo own business, dickhead!"

At least they are thinning the geriatric population by wrecking transport vehicles filled with em'.

NaturalDrunkenPungence: Septa sucks, but I haven't had a day off of work in 2 weeks. I'm actually glad they're on strike today, because now I don't have to go to work.

WinoRhino: Unions suck and have outlived their purpose.
This is obviously said by somebody who has never worked in a place that needs a Union. Yes, there are unions out there that are unnecessary, but if you go into a lot of warehouses or factories. You'll find that even with a union, the workers are getting underpaid, poorly treated, and generally taken advantage of. I'm in a union at my job and I'd hate to think of what would happen if we didn't have one, we had to threaten to strike to get vacation time. It was a warehouse, and before our newest union contract, they didn't give us HEALTH INSURANCE. Now, a lot of jobs don't do that, but not a lot of jobs that involves actual manual labor and physical danger. So, yes, most unions are unnecessary, but there are places in which unions do a lot of good for the workers.

You work in a warehouse. There's 10% unemployment. People would love to have your job. Your skill set is not special, stop thinking it is. If you are unsatisfied with your pay, move on to another job.

A strike? In my election day? More likely than you think.

I wonder who will benefit from millions not making it to the polls?

//Gee whiz. If only terrorists had unions.

mad8vskillz: 25 bucks a month for job security, health insurance, store discounts, guaranteed 40 hour week, a severe wage increase, pension, not being mistreated by managers and raises every 6 months? You're FARKING RIGHT I'm glad I pay union dues and toe the line.

MBrady: The state (the city is not responsible for septa) should pull what Regan did to the air traffic controllers and let those farkers swing in the wind.

"Here is the contract. There are XXXX positions open, and we will put those on our web site, monster.com, etc. Qualified individuals are free to apply for these positions."

How many of YOU only have to contribute 1 percent of your pay to your own healthcare (out of your paycheck)? Not to mention the free Viagra.

F' em.

I work for the company that insures them and my cost share towards my premiums went up $40 per month. They have a better plan than WE do. Local 234 can go fark themselves.

Thankfully the Regional Rail runs near my apartment and drops me off close to where I work, but my roommate is going to have to walk 2-3 miles from Suburban Station to where she works.

Of course, we're all also pissed that this occurred in the middle of the night while people still thought they said no striking while discussions were underway. If I didn't have @SEPTA on my Twitter feed, I'd have been waiting for the bus this morning.

Rendell prides himself on ironclad control over the city of Philadelphia. the fact that this strike caught him by surprise shows just how much control he's lost over even his own people.

MyRandomName: NaturalDrunkenPungence: Septa sucks, but I haven't had a day off of work in 2 weeks. I'm actually glad they're on strike today, because now I don't have to go to work.

WinoRhino: Unions suck and have outlived their purpose.
This is obviously said by somebody who has never worked in a place that needs a Union. Yes, there are unions out there that are unnecessary, but if you go into a lot of warehouses or factories. You'll find that even with a union, the workers are getting underpaid, poorly treated, and generally taken advantage of. I'm in a union at my job and I'd hate to think of what would happen if we didn't have one, we had to threaten to strike to get vacation time. It was a warehouse, and before our newest union contract, they didn't give us HEALTH INSURANCE. Now, a lot of jobs don't do that, but not a lot of jobs that involves actual manual labor and physical danger. So, yes, most unions are unnecessary, but there are places in which unions do a lot of good for the workers.

You work in a warehouse. There's 10% unemployment. People would love to have your job. Your skill set is not special, stop thinking it is. If you are unsatisfied with your pay, move on to another job.

Unions are still necessary for some industries. But Bus Driving sure as hell isn't one of them.

18DeadMonkeys Radio: All those public transportation commuters should buy their own car and help the economy. This is what you get for living in the city and relying on socialist transportation.

(cue Price is Right losing sound effect)

Seriously, where's the motivation to support them? It is noble to try and use mass transit, but how about the rate hikes, timing issues, strikes, aggressive employees, escalators that eat little children, rapes/assaults/murders in the subway, on and on and on.....

It is a public service, though not in the sense of police/firefighters. People depend on it. That fact should not be used as leverage. They have raped this city/region for a long time, and we are basically powerless to do anything. Free market? Sure, I guess you could start your own transportation company, if you live long enough to get through the paperwork and licensing. Boycott? Sure, if your cause means more than your job. Come on. They know this, and that's why they can do this.

If this were NY, that would be something. But I've ridden SEPTA. It's about as reliable as an American car.

/glad I moved out of the city

Weaver95: Rendell prides himself on ironclad control over the city of Philadelphia. the fact that this strike caught him by surprise shows just how much control he's lost over even his own people.

Please, all he gave a shiat about was that they not do it while the World Series was in town because it would look bad. He's shown before that he couldn't care in the least about those of us with actual JOBS.

MyRandomName

So, you suggest I get another job, while also mentioning that there are very few jobs available. I never said I had a special skill set, just that I work hard, and deserve to be compensated for it. We didn't ask for something like $20 an hour like Septa did, we asked to be paid the standard warehouse rate, we were getting $2 an hour under the standard.

18DeadMonkeys Radio: All those public transportation commuters should buy their own car and help the economy. This is what you get for living in the city and relying on socialist transportation.

Have fun trying to find a good place to park!

spyderqueen: Weaver95: Rendell prides himself on ironclad control over the city of Philadelphia. the fact that this strike caught him by surprise shows just how much control he's lost over even his own people.

Please, all he gave a shiat about was that they not do it while the World Series was in town because it would look bad. He's shown before that he couldn't care in the least about those of us with actual JOBS.

Oh I know - Fast Eddie only cares about people in so far as what they can do for him or to hurt him. He's a thug, no doubt. But even thugs like to think they're in control over their patch of territory. Eddie considers philly 'his' town. He always has. And now 'his town' had something big happen that he didn't know about. That's the sort of thing that makes Fast Eddie unhappy.

Not that there's much he can do about it these days. Eddie is locked up in the governor's mansion hoping that none of the state workers take a pot shot at him with a sniper rifle. For a democrat, Eddie has proven to be amazingly hostile to unions across the state. I think that somewhere deep in that thug brain of his, Fast Eddie knows he crossed a line somewhere and he might face consequences for his actions.

IANAL, but doesn't labor law prohibit providers of essential services (policemen, fire fighters, air traffic controllers) from striking because it would would be crippling to the community? I'm pretty sure public transit is 100% vital to a city. Shouldn't SEPTA be knocking down judges' doors trying to get these guys back to work?

/Just signed my first union application last night (Teamsters). Found it a little unsettling that the group with Hoffa and organized crime ties in their history would ask, "Would you perform an act that binds you to the Teamsters?" or some sort of vague wording to that effect.

NaturalDrunkenPungence: So, you suggest I get another job, while also mentioning that there are very few jobs available. I never said I had a special skill set, just that I work hard, and deserve to be compensated for it. We didn't ask for something like $20 an hour like Septa did, we asked to be paid the standard warehouse rate, we were getting $2 an hour under the standard.

If you were getting paid $2 under the going hourly rate and they were still able to hire folks, the local market obviously supported that. They've got to walk the balance between quality of work and wages. If they pay too low, quality can go down and cost them more than the wages. There's also a point where they're getting an acceptable level of quality and the increased pay doesn't offset that.

This isn't about fair, not at all. It's about the economics of their business model. The simple fact is that you elected to take a job at that rate. Therefore your time is worth that rate. If you did something to increase your value to the company, enough to offset that $2/hour then you can make an argument for more money. If your argument is nothing more than everyone else is getting paid more so I deserve it, too, then too damn bad. Go and get the higher paying job.

I feel like Comcast has something to do with this somewhere. I'm not sure how, but they own Philadelphia, absoloutely own it.

NaturalDrunkenPungence: I feel like Comcast has something to do with this somewhere. I'm not sure how, but they own Philadelphia, absoloutely own it.

Not anymore.

ronaprhys

It wasn't even so much about the pay. Yes, we wanted that, but we were being mistreated. And as for this elusive "higher paying job" Go look for it, you'll have as much luck as I've had. I was looking for another job, but I saw no reason to not try to improve my current situation. And quality did go up when we got our union contract, so much so that we were given a larger building with more capacity for product, output, workers and sales.

Bring back Rizzo.

Weaver95: NaturalDrunkenPungence: I feel like Comcast has something to do with this somewhere. I'm not sure how, but they own Philadelphia, absoloutely own it.

Not anymore.

Fios blows...