Great moments in discourse

Remember the SEPTA strike? Man, that seems like forever ago. Basically all I remember at this point is writing a piece for PW that wasn’t published (since the strike ended and the piece became moot) and Transit Workers Union spokesman Bob Bedard comparing the workers’ strike to Rosa Parks.

Sometimes we can sink lower than that, though. The Daily News wrote an editorial recently-ish that called for a ban on transit strikes, citing the public chaos they often cause. There’s room for a thoughtful debate about whether transit strikes should be against the law, but you’re certainly not going to get into that debate with AFSCME District Council 47 President Thomas Paine Cronin:

We can’t help but notice that it’s always workers who get slammed in the newspapers, not managers or employers; that it’s always workers facing injunctions, fines and threats of jail, not the managers or company owner. And it’s not hard to see why. Unions own no media. We don’t have public relations personnel or judges in our pockets.

Banning strikes by transit workers, teachers or any other group of workers is profoundly undemocratic. Where does it stop? If you want to ensure that the public, and employers, are never inconvenienced, why not ban all strikes? Hitler and Mussolini did.

Man, know who’s also for outlawing strikes? Satan.

Strike is tool of last resort for workers [DN]
Oct. 31, 2005: We’re getting there, on foot