OPINION:
ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Wise roosters know better than to fall prey to little transit chicks, such as Cocky Locky, Henny Penny or whatever that bird is called in this age of smartphones.
The sky isn’t going to drop, though you might not believe it to others hear tell.
“The sky is falling,” or so the headlines and sound bites want you to believe now that the majority of members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 voted to approve a strike as the D.C. region prepares for the baseball game to beat all baseball games (except a World Series winner, of course).
One ATU official, union veep Carroll Thomas, went so far as to warn: “If we don’t move, this region doesn’t move.”
Lots of folks inside and outside the Beltway are taking notice of the Chicken Little comments because the transit workers threatening to strike for Metrobus and Metrorail, which means they make their pretty pennies regardless of the day of the week, regardless of the whether and regardless of whether they have a contract.
In fact, ATU employees and retirees have been pulling in the dough even though their contract expired in 2016.
It’s union members’ grievances that haven’t changed.
They want Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld kicked to the curb: He wants to privatize some Metro sectors and change some jobs to save money. Unions, as you are aware, throw hissy fits when any organization, especially a government agency, uses the “p” word.
The union also wants a louder voice on leave policies, retirement packages and raises — the money issues that always hang up funding for collective bargain agreements.
Speaking of which, technically, the union would be breaking the law if members went on strike.
The union members and leadership should be mindful of the fact that this isn’t the Deep South circa 1968, yet their politics stink as much today as when black garbage workers declared war on Jim Crow in Memphis.
Frankly, they don’t realize that in the last two years, typical Metro riders have grown less-dependent on mass transit. Rail maintenance interruptions have become a way of life, and the recent Metrobus drivers’ failure to show up for work on time didn’t give drivers brownie points either.
For sure, if taxpayers and workers along the 14th Street corridor in Columbia Heights discover the bus just ain’t coming, they know there are apps to fill the gap — they’re called Uber and Lyft.
And if Capitol Hill workers and denizens find rail and bus workers are on strike, they know hailing a cab, ride-sharing and good-old fashioned walking are options.
Add to that the bicycles and scooters, which are everywhere. As for telecommuting, well, hey, this is the capital region.
Metro management and union leaders met Monday to talk things out. Let’s hope a compromise — a less costly compromise — is reached.
However, if Metro has to take the union to court, so be it.
The sky isn’t falling, and Metro’s fiscal year isn’t even a month old.
• Deborah Simmons can be contacted at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.