Inflation decreasing? Of course, that's why LA bus drivers only pull in 80,000/yr...and are striking for more!!!
dailynews.yahoo.com
Saturday September 16 10:57 AM ET
Over 4,000 L.A. Bus, Train Drivers Go on Strike
By Arthur Spiegelman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - More than 4,000 Los Angeles bus drivers and train operators went on strike on Saturday in the second walkout to hit the system serving 450,000 people in six years.
Talks broke down late Friday night and United Transportation Union Chairman James Williams told his supporters, ``I have gone the last mile. I can't go any further.''
He then ordered the strike and drivers finished their runs early Saturday.
The union represents 4,400 workers.
The full impact of the strike -- the second since a nine-day walkout in 1994 -- will not be felt until Monday, which will be the first full business day since the walkout was called.
In a city where the car is king, buses and trains mainly serve a working class ridership, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Marc Littman. ``Two thirds of our riders earn $15,000 a year or less,'' he said.
The strike could create havoc, preventing hundreds of thousands of people from getting to work or school in a sprawling metropolis.
Unions representing other bus and rail workers had said they would honor any strike.
With pay the key issue, negotiations have been particularly contentious because MTA board members are convinced that they must cut costs and union officials are not willing to do so by cutting workers earnings.
Bus drivers earn an average of $50,000 a year but with overtime, MTA officials say that pay increases to $70,000 or $80,000.
Mayor Richard Riordan, a member of the MTA board, has said that it costs the agency considerably more to operate its buses than neighboring areas, which the city can no longer afford.
No new talks were scheduled on Saturday.
Hopes had been high that a strike could have been avoided when the MTA dropped its demand that drivers work a 10-hour-day, four day week.
But the union insisted that pay was the key issue.
It was not clear what the salary differences were when the talks broke down. |
