The difference between "workers" and manager salaries is about 4x, pretty low compared to the private sector.
I find the salaries to be outrageously high, even factoring in that we are talking about the Bay Area & San Francisco. Considering that the average age of BART's cars is 30 years [1], the money seems better spend on updating the equipment.
[1] http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/local/bart-moved-update-rapidl...
For instance, the lighting situation in the tunnels is unacceptable and has likely been involved in at least one worker death.
BART workers have important jobs, evidenced by the pain we're experiencing as a region without them. That's what strikes are about.
Would you appreciate your salary negotiation going something like this:
"Hey, four years ago when the company and our customers were struggling, I accepted a pay freeze to cover essential costs to keep us afloat."
"Thanks for that. We'd like you to start covering some of the costs of your benefits, though we're actually doing a good bit better. We're going to give you a raise that amounts to half of inflation in the most optimistic of light, and that will cover the new costs we're asking you to cover. We're going to do this so that we can go to the press and say that we offered you a raise, you're a bunch of ungrateful fucks, and look at how you've fucked all of the poor riders. Also, on top of that, all of the things you've asked us to purchase for the system that would increase worker safety are rejected or deferred - we don't think that should be a part of your negotiation, even if you're saying that you might be willing to accept the pay we're offering if we budged a bit more on these costs. Do you accept?"
Oh, by the way, Fox News' coverage of the strike is also poor. News at 11!
It's classic divide and conquer class stratification, and you don't even have to do the agitating yourself.
Yep.
I can personally confirm that things of this sort play out precisely the same way among east coast equivalents.
If you want the upside of big jumps in salary, you should have to take on some of the risks (like losing your job and medical insurance, or your business).
Do you ever wonder if there's someone else who would be willing to do the job you are doing for less?
Would you appreciate your salary negotiation going like this:
"I want 20% increase over four years."
"No. We're laying off 20% of the staff because revenue is down. We might hire you back as a part-timer later, without health insurance or benefits."
If people (riders) realize what the salaries are and compare that to the service they get in return, they should ask for BaRT employees to become more efficient, given their salaries, else BaRT emps will price themselves out and automation will become more and more viable option, despite the political obstacle.
So, yeah, I agree, they should use this money toward upgrades and or service expansion, maybe invest in an additional track smoother[1]. And, as someone said below, they need to realize that they are a service organization and act like one.
[1]http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/BAY-AREA-Softening-the...
I hit the emergency call button and demand they clean the elevators. I get a god damned attitude from the station agents as though its not their problem.
Then who the fark's problem is it. The cost of BART and the service on gets - particularly the hygienic risk - is unacceptable.
CLEAN THE DAMN ELEVATORS!
The state of San Francisco's transportation system, whether it's BART or MUNI, is a reflection of the city and its problems, not just of the transit system itself. I sincerely hope you noticed the homeless and mentally-ill that are everywhere in the city before you noticed the elevators they shit in.
Just like human shit clogging up and breaking down escalators (true story, I wish I jest), it is BART's problem, but BART and its employees are more or less powerless against it. When you have a veritable army of homeless and addicts inhabiting your city, there is not much you can do besides stay in that booth.
If you would like functional elevators that aren't biohazard zones, I'd suggest becoming involved locally and solving the problem at its root. I am confident you will get nowhere with clean elevators until you get somewhere with reducing the homeless and mentally-ill population.
"If you want clean elevators, just solve homelessness!" Reminds me of "if you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, first you must first invent the universe." It's cute... but if you actually want to know how to make an apple pie from scratch that answer is just obnoxious.
Your prescription for how to clean an elevator is absurd.
Alternatively, is there a way to detect when poop or piss touches a service and trigger an automatic lockdown of the elevator until an officer has come to inspect it and release it? Once someone has been trapped and fined once, they are more likely to avoid doing anything that triggers them getting caught in the elevator.
I don't much like BART police, and in fact I think the decision to have a private police force for BART should be revisited. These officers are often rejected based on psychological exams from departments like SFPD, OPD, and UCPD. They have higher entry salaries than workers who aren't armed, and while people on Facebook groups seem constantly to want them around with greater presence to admonish cyclists breaking silly rules or chasing naked acrobats, in fact the only thing they seem capable of doing is accidentally murdering people.
You want upgrades? The maintenance team at BART wants safer working conditions to install the equipment you propose to purchase. With no raise during a period with 18% average cost of living increase - a low average all of us on HN know - I'm sure many of these hard working folks are concerned about having to move their families to neighborhoods with worse schools and crime while being asked to work longer hours, and called greedy for clocking overtime.
Just to be clear I have no affiliation except that I have had some drinking buddies who are SEIU organizers. They're serious people who are very good at taking care of the lower wage employees around the world, and esp in places like the bay area with huge income disparity.
http://www.keepbartrunning.com/an_open_letter_to_the_communi...
I think if rapid transit is to take off and replace car culture (as a viable alternative), it needs to be affordable and has to go where people want to go. That means make BaRT more affordable and make it go more places --Van Ness, Geary corridors, go down to San Jose via El Camino develop el Camino down the peninsula for dense housing.