I understand the human need for a stable work environment and stable
schedule. But the truth is that you are not in an industry that can
conform 100% to your needs. You are in an industry whose primary
function is serving the public. If you are asked to drive a bus or train
in another part of the City to fill a need then I would expect that you
do it. Routinely destroying your schedule or sending you helter skelter
all over the place is not good. I understand that. Those underlying
issues must be dealt with but NOT at the expense of the riding public. I
am not willing to sacrifice spending 45 minutes in the cold waiting for
a bus because you can't "lower" yourself to drive an "entry-level" bus.
Whatever caste system and seniority system is in place now, while being
the "standard", is now getting in the way of servicing the public. Your
management needs changes, your union work rules need changes, your
hierarchy system needs changes and you, the operators, need changes. You
cannot expect the public to sympathize and champion your causes when
ours are so poorly and despicably served by Muni.
By your comments and those of the other Muni operators, I can plainly
see that serving the public is not your primary duty. While you ask us
to see things from the drivers point of view, you utterly fail to
consider the consequences of your attitude upon that public. Mr. Parks
even refuses to acknowledge that riders of the 14-Mission are customers
or even passengers. Mr. Ehrlich says to leave the needs of the riding
public to the "rookies", he can't be "lowered" to respond to such needs,
he has seniority and that somehow makes his needs greater than ours
although he "is" a Muni operator. All riders should find these attitudes
offensive and indicative of how Muni and its operators sees its
passengers. This is why we cannot let up in our demands upon the
management and employees of Muni. Now we see their true colors. Their
only interest in RescueMuni is in making sure their job perks are not
disturbed by trying to make us see the need for them and how that need
outweighs ours. All of the suggestions for better service rely on
somebody else making a change not themselves. I seriously doubt that the
needs of SF citizens are what they are trying to champion.
Mr. Ehrlich states that I obviously do not understand how the seniority
system at Muni or any other transit agency works. This is true. But I
don't have to. Given the Third World status of Muni service, I doubt
that any Muni employee can satisfactorily defend any status quo system
at Muni to the public. It may not be the biggest contributor to bad
service but obviously (listening to their comments) it is a contributor.
In other words it seems that Nothing is going right at Muni and we're
paying for it.
You are forgetting one thing. It is not my job to make your job a good
one. It is your job to make your job a good one. You, Muni employees,
should be fighting for your rights and job happiness within your
company. That is not my battle. It is your battle. My battle is make
sure Muni delivers what Muni promises. I am NOT going to fight for your
rights. I am NOT going to fight for your privileges. I AM going to fight
for our rights "the people you're supposed to be serving". I AM going to
demand that Muni delivers what it promises. How Muni does it within
themselves is Muni's problem and your problem. I can guarantee you one
thing though. Muni's reign of impunity will not last much longer. No
politician is going to risk his career for your sake (once they see
Willie Brown fall). It would be in your best interest to make Muni work
and fight that battle with your company and your union as well as with
the Police dept. and the City. If you can keep your perks and seniority
systems and make Muni work...fine. But as far as the public is
concerned, the two are incompatible at this time. You only need to stand
and wait for a bus or train to see it. RescueMuni is about the people
(and that includes the people in the Mission that you all dislike so
much and they "are" people) who need a reliable transit system not about
Muni employees.
I am not saying this to anger you but only to state the point of view of
the man in the street. If all you're going to do is tell us why things
can't change or shouldn't change and not make a real effort to change
them yourselves as Muni employees then you are working against the
interest of the rider and that is not RescueMuni's purpose. Muni NEEDS
to change. You must realize that and accept that your job most likely
needs to change and will change. I am not trying to be divisive either.
I am only trying to focus this organization to do what it set out to do
and not be sidetracked unnecessarily. It has been several years now
since RescueMuni has organized and Muni service has not changed much
where it matters, on the street. Hopefully you can see that and use your
unique positions within Muni to make changes really happen if that's
what you want. But the natives are growing restless and comments like
yours, coming from Muni employees, will only weaken your cause. Be a
part of the solution not a part of the problem.