All workers engaged in municipal, short distance transportation and telecommunication services.
Submitted on Sun, 10/09/2005 - 5:30pm
By Harry Harrington, aka Sathari Singh Khalsa - Industrial Worker, September 2005.
In June of last year the New York City Transit Authority removed me from my job as a train operator for wearing a turban. I had worked there for 23 years with a turban, nearly all as a train operator. The bosses at the MTA were quickly compelled by adverse media coverage to return me to my regular job in passenger service. The initial attempt to put me out of sight failed. My case had reached millions through TV and newspaper accounts that made the MTA officials look like narrow-minded bigots.
Not to be frustrated in their efforts to control nearly all aspects of their employees' lives, the MTA bosses then told me that I had to "pick" a job in the yard during the next job selection process if I continued to wear my turban. As a member of the worldwide Sikh community, I could not remove my religiously mandated head covering and as a union activist I could not let them violate my rights. The media campaign continued and the pick came and I did not pick a yard job but a job I had been working for the last 12 years on the number four Lexington Avenue Express line. Their threat to fire me for picking my regular job proved empty.
Submitted on Wed, 09/14/2005 - 10:42pm
Disclaimer - The following article is reposted here because it is an issue with some relevance to the IWW. The views of the author do not necessarily agree with those of the IWW and vice versa.
New Service Cuts Scheduled for September 24?
Many riders have noticed that they are waiting longer and longer for the bus, and that they are more crowded when they finally show up. But trying to figure out what is going on is not so easy.
Last week, Muni quietly posted a notice on their website that a new round of service cuts is scheduled to take effect on September 24. This posting included two charts, one showing "changes in routes, and hours and days of service" for several lines, and an even longer chart showing lines that will have fewer buses running at longer intervals. These charts had been up on Muni's website, in one form or another, for months, although without the specific implementation date.
Then, sometime over the weekend, the longer chart showing which lines will have fewer buses disappeared from the website. Has Muni suddenly had a change of heart? Did they find a big pile of cash? Or are they trying to hide something from us? We don't know. And who knows what will be on Muni's website when you read this bulletin. Check it out yourself, at http://www.sfmuni.com/cms/rptpub/SFMuniProposedServiceAdjustments.htm#routing.
Submitted on Tue, 08/30/2005 - 3:14pm
Disclaimer - The following article is reposted here because it is an issue with some relevance to the IWW. The views of the author and the publisher do not necessarily agree with those of the IWW and vice versa.
Rachel Gordon, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer - Tuesday, August 30, 2005 - Original Article.
A coalition of activists involved in left-leaning political causes in San Francisco called on Municipal Railway passengers to refuse to pay their fares starting Thursday, the day the price for a ride is set to go up.
"We refuse to pay more for less service," said Riva Enteen, one of the organizers of the planned strike who publicized their plans at a Mission District rally Monday. "These fare hikes will affect poor people the most."
Starting Thursday, the regular cash fare for bus and train service will go up to $1.50, a 25-cent boost, and the cost of a cable car ride will nearly double to $5. The cash fare for seniors, the disabled and youth will increase 15 cents, to 50 cents.
Submitted on Thu, 08/25/2005 - 9:16pm
Disclaimer - The following article is reposted here because it is an issue with some relevance to the IWW. The views of the author and the publisher do not necessarily agree with those of the IWW and vice versa.
NO MUNI FARE HIKE! NO MUNI SERVICE CUTS!
MUNI plans to raise the adult fare from $1.25 to $1.50 Raise Youth, Senior and Disabled Fares from 35 cents to 50 cents. Lay off 200 drivers and cut runs on 41 lines
While politicians pick the pockets of MUNI riders, they give away millions to downtown corporations, and pay MUNI director Michael Burns $280,000 per year. MUNI wants us to PAY MORE to WAIT LONGER. We say NO WAY!
If MUNI raises the fare on September 1, as now planned, we should respond with a FARE STRIKE. In a fare strike, passengers ride the bus, but do not pay the fare.
Fare strikes work. Last year, a fare strike in Chicago prevented a planned fare hike. In 1998, a fare strike in Los Angeles stopped a fare hike and pressured LA to buy more busses to reduce overcrowding.
Working class people, students, seniors and the disabled depend on MUNI. Together we can stop the fare hike and service cuts.
Submitted on Thu, 08/25/2005 - 1:58am
Disclaimer - The following article is reposted here because it is an issue with some relevance to the IWW. The views of the author and the publisher do not necessarily agree with those of the IWW and vice versa.
By Matthew Hirsch - San Francisco Bay Guardian, August 24, 2005
Social change doesn't just happen of its own accord. It happens because of people like Jose Alfaro.
A lifelong San Franciscan who retired in 2000 from his job as a professional cook, Alfaro dedicates himself to making life easier for new immigrants to this city. He's a smooth, natural-born organizer, an affable man who can engage in two conversations at once while handing out flyers to the crowds passing by.
These days Alfaro is helping organize a fare strike to protest the increased cost of a Muni ride from $1.25 to $1.50, which will hurt low-wage workers and the elderly most, he says. (The senior fare increases only to 50¢, but Alfaro fears many still wind up paying more than they should.) He's part of a small, loose-knit group that's calling the strike, but without active support from labor and community organizations that previously opposed the Muni fare increase.
