Being a resident of Philadelphia for the past week has been a living hell for some people. Thankfully, all of that came to an end early this morning when the SEPTA strike was finally resolved. While I live close enough to Temple that I can walk to my classes, I was lucky that I didn't feel the full force of the strike like many others in the area. About 800,000 people were impacted by this DAILY.
Apparently, there was a big disagreement over wages and benefits. According to the Examiner, they reached a new 5 year deal. Workers get no pay raise the first year, then a 2.5% increase in year 2 and then a 3% increase for the rest of the years. This deal was apparently the same deal proposed to the union a week earlier. It's been suggested that mounting public dissent and pressure forced them into action.I find it hard to sympathize with SEPTA workers, where people earn up to 24 bucks an hour for driving a bus around.
I'm aware we live in America and that we all have certain rights, but the SEPTA Union totally abused their power. They crippled an entire city for nearly a week, making it impossible for some kids to get to their schools or others to get to work. What's going to happen after this deal runs its course? Is Philadelphia going to have another strike on its hands? It's looking like we're just going to have to cross our fingers and hope for the best.
New York City has what they call the Taylor Law. It prevents strikes by the workers of the transit system. People who strike in New York are able to be punished be either jail time and/or fines. They are still able to work out their contract disputes, but the system remains in business for the sake of the city.
Why can't Philadelphia institute such a law of their own? It would make life so much easier for so many people. I can't see how it doesn't help everyone: workers can still settle contract disputes and people can still get to where they need to go to maintain their living. Philadelphia was falling to pieces: Fires erupted on a train, a worker was ran over by a train, and people couldn't get to their jobs/classes.
Verdict? Speaking from the general public who had to suffer through this all: UNJUSTIFIABLE. Even though everything is back up and running, I'm going to do everything I can to not use SEPTA anymore. I don't want them having any of my money.
VERDICT: UNJUSTIFIABLE