Reader James DiMartino of the Southwark/Passyunk Square area wrote this morning with this interesting alternative to a full-on transit strike:
The SEPTA strike is a great inconvenience to the general population. I am sure that the Septa board Members and the Union Leadership are not similarly inconvenienced by the lack of public transportation. Just look at the army of SUVs around the Bellevue during the talks.
I would like to suggest another approach to the union action. Instead of walking off the job, why not continue to operate the system as usual only REFUSE TO COLLECT FARES.
This would have a two-fold impact; 1. Put a halt to the revenue stream while 2. Retaining the popular support of the people whose livelihoods depend on reliable public transportation.
Each time SEPTA has gone on strike, they have actually lost ridership.
Why not take an action that helps the people as well as yourselves, guys? Would that not be enlightened self interest?
Just in time for his talk tonight at the Free Library, we're giving away a copy of David Plouffe's The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama's Historic Victory. Obama's campaign manager, who chatted it up with Marty Moss-Coane this morning on Radio Times, breaks down the road to victory in chapters like "Ecstasy. Agony," "Agony. Ecstasy," "It's the Economy, Stupid" and "Plumbers and Radicals," hitting on the most memorable moments of the most memorable grassroots campaign in recent history.
From Audacity's jacket blurb:
This is the ultimate insider story of what many consider the most brilliant campaign ever run, by the man who helped design it and made it happen. Plouffe takes readers from the campaign's tenative first moments — the hard decisions on whether and how to run — to the powerful election day vindication of Obama's wins over John McCain in battlegrounds such as Virginia and Florida. Moving through a cross-country backdrop of hotel rooms, debate halls, rallies and airplanes, we follow candidate Obama and his team every step of the way, listening in on never-before-revealed discussions about bold decisions and directions, and how the campaign was reported.
Middle-of-the-book pictures of Barack on a plane, Barack on a podium, Barack on the phone might not be sexy, but the story's certainly got some meat to it. To win a copy, answer me this:
On Tuesday night's Daily Show, Jon Stewart came up with what fake name for Plouffe's book?
Four female employees of the Pennsylvania-based Danella Construction Corp. won a $200,000 settlement from the company after alleging that the corporation did not provide workers with on-site portable toilets, forcing them to wear adult diapers to work or drive to find a restroom.
The president of the South African athletic governing body was suspended for lying to cover up the fact that Caster Semenya, the South African sprinter who set a record at the 800-meter event of the 2009 Olympics, had been tested to verify her gender.
To raise awareness and money for the underfunded U.S. Speedskating Team, which just lost its biggest sponsor, Stephen Colbert offered to become the team's new primary sponsor and has already posted a fundraising link for the team on his Web site.
The Iraqi oil ministry struck its third major deal with a consortium of oil companies including Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell. If approved by the cabinet, Exxon and Royal will begin production soon in the Qurna oil field, where oil will be extracted starting at a rate of 280,000 barrels per day.
Following last week's deadly Taliban attack against United Nations workers, the UN pulled some 600 personnel from Afghanistan: a discouraging sign for the national forces still trying to defeat the militant group.
Northeast High School in Philadelphia took several students out of class yesterday and confined them in the school auditorium for failing to follow the school's dress code, on the first day the school had enforced the nine-year-old policy. Some students were sent to the auditorium simply for wearing brown shoes instead of black ones.
For this week's cover story, I listed what I consider the Top 10 Spectrum Sports Moments. Disagreements are welcome — but first let's look at the footage:
1. The Flyers Win Their First Stanley Cup 5/19/1974
You can watch the entire game here. I recommend you at least check out the last few minutes, when the fans storm the ice and the Flyers basically have to fight them off to protect the Cup. Dave Schultz, especially, takes things too far.
2. Flyers vs. Russian Red Army 1/11/1976
Yep, that's Gene Hart and Marv Albert with the call.
Earlier today, "It's Our Money" reported that Willie Brown, president of the Transport Workers Union Local 234 – the guys on strike – had told reporters that Mayor Nutter was "cut off" from future negotiations:
Nutter “has brought nothing†to the table, Brown said, adding, “I will not meet him†because of the attacks the mayor has leveled at the union.
About half an hour ago, Office of the Mayor Press Secretary Doug Oliver emailed me the following statement, reprinted here in its entirety:
The Mayor was only involved because he was asked to participate in the discussions. Â To the extent that his participation is helpful, he's willing to participate. Â If his participation is problematic, he's willing to stay out of the discussions. Â It's always been the Mayor's position that his number one obligation is to the 1.5 million people who are trying to manage their way through this TWU strike.
There should be no reason why the negotiations can't move forward. Â But with a deal like the one that was offered (11% wage increases over five years and no increase in contributions to healthcare) during a time when so many people are taking pay decreases and even losing their jobs, one can't help but wonder why a deal wasn't struck already. Â Again, if the absence of the Mayor is the only thing needed to strike a deal, the Mayor is more than happy to allow the negotiations to continue without his involvement.
* Ben Waxman proposes that the transportation workers' give up their right to stirke in exchange for "binding arbitration," – in other words, if an agreement can't be reached, a decision is simply made by an arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators.
Ring of Honor must be doing something right, though the evidence comes almost strictly in bad news for the Philly-based wrestling promotion. Within the past year and a half, which saw the company make the move to weekly TV on HDNet, ROH alumni CM Punk and Samoa Joe have both held world championships in the WWE and TNA. And between their last TV tapings in September and this weekend’s, they’ve had to bid farewell to two more of their top stars, as “American Dragon†Bryan Danielson headed for Vince McMahon’s greener pastures and Nigel McGuinness has been reborn as Desmond Wolfe in TNA (where he’ll now have to contend with the won’t-go-away Hulk Hogan). So look for the year’s last batch of TV tapings — six hour-long episodes over two nights — to look towards the future and the next round of rising stars.
The U.S. Supreme Court was preparing to hear a case over whether prosecutors may be sued for framing defendants before trial proceedings have begun.
The U.S. government has agreed to pay $1.26 million to five immigrant men who were rounded up, kept in conditions they allege to be inhumane and deported following the 9-11 attacks.
An opinion is expected soon in the first court case appealing the practice of "extraordinary rendition" -- in which terrorism suspects are seized in one country but questioned in another. The case concerns a Muslim cleric whom 26 Americans are charged with abducting from the streets of Milan six years ago.
Anti-government protesters in Iran, who were demonstrating against government-sanctioned rallies to commemorate the takeover of the U.S. Embassy that resulted in the hostage crisis 30 years ago, were brutally beaten and sprayed with tear gas by state police.
As if you didn't know: The Phillies won a tense game 5, forcing a game 6 tomorrow night in New York wherein Pedro Martinez will get a second chance to end the "who's your daddy?" chants once and for all.
Also, SEPTA called an audible, announcing a 3 a.m. strike shutting down all city subway, bus and trolley service, essentially holding true to the letter of their word to not striking during the World Series home games. Yes, yes, we support the union's right to strike, but tell it to the people waiting at bus stops at 5:30 this morning.
So we'll take this opportunity to share a word with the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia who suggest you "Bike the Strike":
PHILADELPHIA - November 3, 2009 - The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia urges SEPTA travelers to bike instead of driving. Commuters who bike will win out over those stuck in traffic jams of epic proportions."Avoid the crush and bike the strike," says Alex Doty, Executive Director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. "Bike the Strike to save time, money and help shrink your waistline. Plus, I guarantee you will have more fun than anyone trying to drive during the strike."
In cooperation with Philadelphia's Office of Transportation and Utilities, the Bicycle Coalition has established a Bike the Strike station at City Hall (Dillworth Plaza). The station has bike parking corrals, free coffee, bike maps and Bicycle Ambassadors on hand to give tips on bike commuting and personalized route planning.
Keeping safe while bicycling is critical. "Bicycles are considered vehicles, so we also urge all bicyclists to obey the rules of the road," said Education Director Breen Goodwin. "It's important for all bicyclists to be civil, courteous and comply with traffic laws, such as walking their bikes on sidewalks and stopping at all signals, to ensure the everyone's safety."
Jim Horwat, our favorite Phillies-loving, smile-crazy illustrator — the man behind last year's championship-celebrating tribute/collage — is back with a 2009 print featuring all the stars of this year's run and Brad Lidge and Eric Bruntlett. Oh, and it's also got HK and the Phanatic done up like some kind of Mayan priest.
This year's print is full color and available in a signed and numbered first edition on Horwat's web site. Do some early x-mas shopping and maybe buy the Phils a little karma tonight.
Not to be that guy or anything, but I pretty much called it: When the chips were down, TWU declined to go on strike and fuck up the city's transportation system during its moment in the sun. According to the union, this happened because Gov. Rendell threatened to yank mass transit funding if either they or SEPTA officials left the negotiating table — an empty threat if ever I heard one. (Seriously, Fast Eddie's gonna punish 1 million some-odd SEPTA commuters because authority and union leaders throw adolescent temper tantrums? Right.) But anyway. Using the gov's alleged "threat" as cover, the union backed off its nihilistic promise to plunge this city into chaos over the weekend. Now, we're told, a deal is imminent.
Good. Now, with the worst presumably behind us, let's take a look at the bigger picture. First of all, I don't really have a problem with SEPTA threatening to strike, in teh abstract anyway. I've spent most of my life in a largely non-union state, Florida, and seen what happens when there's not a strong counterbalance to either governmental or business excess. My objection, rather, was to the nature of the TWU's threat — i.e. give us our way or we'll blow up the city. Sure. SEPTA shouldn't be dragging out negotiations for six months after the last contract expired, but trying to negotiate by taking the city hostage isn't my idea of maturity, or a way to engender my respect. The problem, in this particular instance, was one of tactics.
Does TWU have a case? Probably, at least in some respects. Yeah, rising healthcare costs suck, and no one wants to see their costs rise from 1 percent to 4 percent — when my insurance kicks in (please God, let me make it to Jan. 1) I'll be paying somewhere around 7 percent of my paycheck for me and my fiancee — as SEPTA proposes for its workers. But everyone's costs have gone up, everywhere. The cost of healthcare itself is increasingly astronomically (c'mon, public option), and without asking the union to pay up, those costs get passed along to riders and state taxpayers. But, OK, fine, whatever. Same with wages. Is SEPTA being a bit heavy-handed with a two-year wage freeze? I'll admit to not knowing the severity of the authority's budget woes, but I'd imagine they can bend a bit on that. I really haven't found TWU's argument for more pension money at all convincing.
The eventual agreement will probably fall somewhere in the middle. Seems there won't be an increase in health costs, but I would imagine (or hope) that in return the union will give up its pension pipe dream, and then they'll come to a middle ground on wages (maybe 1 percent a year instead of nothing; but really, the union's demands for 4 percent per year are simply unrealistic, and I reckon they know that).
The bigger issue, for me — and this may make me a bit unpopular in these parts — is the union's ability to muddy the authority's ability to innovate. No layoffs, guaranteed? Great, until there's a crisis that demands them. Guaranteed raises, no matter how well or poorly someone performs? I'm much more inclined to award merit over seniority.
See, to me, unions are supposed to be a counterbalance, not an anchor. SEPTA isn't a multi-billion dollar corporation; it's a state-funded authority, with a responsibility to provide transit at reasonable costs. The union would do well to keep in mind that that is its primary mission — it's not merely a guaranteed jobs program. The union is and should be there to protect its workers from being exploited; I support that. But making unrealistic demands and then threatening to strike on the most important weekend of the year if you don't get your way isn't about protecting workers, it's about manipulating SEPTA officials' to produce maximum returns for its members, even if such returns are ultimately harmful to taxpayers and SEPTA users.
In that sense, I glad their bluff was called. Next time, negotiate like grown-ups.
Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania, was again among the highest-paid university presidents in the country with an annual salary of well over $1 million, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education's salary survey released today.
Afghan president Hamid Karzai automatically won a second term today after his only remaining challenger from the fraud-ridden election in August dropped out of the runoff election planned for Nov. 7, saying he believed the runoff would be as corrupt as the original.
Bagram Air Field, the largest U.S. army base in Afghanistan, already houses about 24,000 military personnel and contractors but is still expanding with rapid construction projects costing millions of dollars, even as President Obama debates whether to send more troops into the country.
The Iraqi oil ministry signed an agreement with a consortium of companies headed by the Italian firm ENI to develop the Zubair oil field in southern Iraq, marking the oil ministry's second major contract since the U.S. invasion. The group will extract 200,000 barrels of oil a day from the field, possibly eventually rising to 1.1 million barrels.
New York Waste Management has been paying townships and property owners in Philadelphia's northern suburbs millions of dollars annually to dump about 2,500 tons of trash from New York City in their landfills every day.
Dunno if it was the shaky first inning by Joe Blanton, the continued struggles of Ryan Howard vs. lefties, the reliance on the solo home run, the uncanny ability to convert a 2-on-nobody-out opportunity into a goose egg, or the almost comically preordained bullpen collapse that was most emblematic of the Phils season.
Last night's World Series game 4 had a little bit of everything for your local neighborhood Phils cynic. Let's not forget that while the Phillies are indeed a very formidable team, they've got their weaknesses — and almost all of them were exposed against the best power pitching and power hitting money can buy.
CC Sabathia — his inability to do anything with Chase Utley notwithstanding — continued to make Phils lefties Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez look look like Rico Brogna and Travis Lee.
Joe Blanton, a yeoman 4th starter, despite a sick run from the second inning into the fifth where he painted the corners deftly, was undone in a fifth inning where nobody hit the ball all that hard, but, given Blanton's lack of an out pitch, was unable to drop the hammer and end an ill timed two-run rally.
Charlie Manuel, despite finding himself in a situation — tied at 4 in the ninth after an improbable Pedro Feliz tying shot — where he might be facing extra innings, decided to not try to get another inning out of his best/most durable reliever, Ryan Madson, and went to Brad Lidge in a situation that called for perfection.
In a bit of irony too rich for words, when the Phils employed a severe defensive shift against Mark Teixeira — the same one used so often against their own Ryan Howard — they got burned on a steal of second wherein Johnny Damon kept running right on down to an uncovered third base.
Of course, then there's the mystery of why Brad Lidge stopped throwing his slider — his best pitch and possibly the best pitch on the entire staff — while facing Johnny Damon in the first place, but Brad Lidge mysteries could fill a book at this point.
Meanwhile, our erstwhile mayor is offering these reassuring assurances: "Well, today is Friday. The parties have been talking. When parties are talking, it's a much more positive sign than when
they're not."
Staff Blog
