A Little Walking Never Hurt Nobody!

I enjoy walking. I really do. But I wasn’t counting on the amount of walking that I’m doing now!

The SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) workers in the city of brotherly love are ON STRIKE. Since Tuesday, November 3^rd, all buses, subway lines, trolleys and their operators have come to a bumpy halt.

That means in true working woman/grandma style, I carry a bag containing my work shoes to switch out from the sneakers I use for the 30-45-minute brisk walk to work.

I guess you could argue that this strike is good in that at the very least, it is forcing people whose signature dish is the philly cheesesteak, to walk more. But given the growing traffic volume and number of taxis dispatched, I think we found a way around that.

Now, this is the first time that I’ve been personally affected by a strike. In the past, I’ve only seen strikes and/or boycotts on television and have read about them occurring in a distant land or state. Being on the free-radical side of things, and given my parents’ socialist homeland, I’ve always thought myself a “power to the people” sort of person. Inquilab Zindabad (Long live the revolution) as the brown folk used to shout at the Brits.

BUT this little uprising in my backyard got me thinking more deeply about the other side of strikes. Are they always justified? How does it affect others apart from the evil boss man?

In this case, there are mixed reviews on if this strike is justified or not. The abridged version is that union workers were negotiating their contract and are not satisfied with what SEPTA management is bringing to the table, specifically by way of contributions to pensions. The Philly Examiner has a good update for specific details.

The Mayor, the Governor, SEPTA and a growing number of disgruntled commuters think that the union has been given an excellent offer in light of the economic climate. I should add that the offer includes a $1,250 bonus upon signing the contract. The general feeling is that the offer might not be great but hey, its better than what a lot of folks are getting right now. In fact, some Philly brothers and sisters are so annoyed that they are advocating for a protest in front of the union’s headquarters!

So, I can’t say if this strike is justified or not but I can say there is enough dissent within and outside of the union ranks to raise a few questions. A woman I work alongside even claimed that her uncle works for SEPTA and he didn’t even know about the strike until he got to work in the morning and the station was still locked. At the very least, it was poorly organized.

And to tell you the truth, I never thought too much about others affected by a strike before. Of course, there are the union members. But there are also workers that don’t have a car and have relied on public transportation to get to their jobs across the city, which they desperately need. There are seriously ill patients who need to see a doctor. Equally awful is that there are hundreds of children attending public schools in the city who depend on public buses and subways who are sh-- out of luck. The mayor says it’s the responsibility of the parents to get their children to school. Well how feasible is that directive for a single parent who now has double the commute to work without public transportation, and needs this job to provide for his or her family?

As much as I dislike dirty, dingy, urine-scented SEPTA facilities, as infuriating as it is to see an inexcusable lack of handicap accessibility, and as much as I feel the whole system should be burnt to the ground and rebuilt, I have also come to realize that there are people out there who will take what they can get.

I can’t say who is right or wrong in this strike situation, and I’m sure the devil is in the details of the contract. But who do you support as the strike evolves into the union people vs. the rest of the people, and has become an issue of worker’s rights on both sides?

I will definitely look at strikes and their dynamics differently from now on.

I will also don my sneakers without complaint come Monday, since other people in this city have a lot more to contend with.