You think its bad for PAT now, it's about to get A LOT WORSE! (Pittsburgh: rental, shop)

[raubre]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

The pensions are a fixed cost that will hobble PAT for the next 30 years unless something is done about them.

I wonder what will happen after the pension money runs out. What's next for the people who are living off of them?

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Well, I think it might be time for a protest.

[psychomantis]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

The pensions are a fixed cost that will hobble PAT for the next 30 years unless something is done about them.

I agree, but one would think that since they have so many buses crammed to double their rated capacity with people (double profit) that they would at least be able to maintain their current routes instead of eliminating them.


I don't claim to be a business or union expert; but you cannot run a successful business by declaring war on your customers.

[mjost7]

Assuming some of those riders on the to-be-cut routes will (attempt to) drive their cars to downtown or Oakland, where would they park their vehicles? As far as I can tell, many of the garages are at capacity on an average weekday.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by mjost7

Assuming some of those riders on the to-be-cut routes will (attempt to) drive their cars to downtown or Oakland, where would they park their vehicles? As far as I can tell, many of the garages are at capacity on an average weekday.

Pitt already has remote parking lots for some of their employees down on 2nd Avenue and on the South Side, minibussing the people to Oakland.

Other large employers or groups of employers might be able to do the same thing.

Organizing van pools for outlying employees could work out as well.

I don't see this problem as insurmountable at all, but instead as a challenge that can be solved by those most affected.

[Goinback2011]

I don't claim to be a business or union expert; but you cannot run a successful business by declaring war on your customers.

If you follow the inflated pension stories (around the country - it's not just a PAT problem), it's quite an effective scam. Workers getting close to retirement sign up for all the OT possible for the last 3 years before they retire. Their pensions are then based on the OT-inflated total wage they earn for those 3 years. No one is the wiser until enough retirees hit the system and the fixed cost of pensions puts the organization in financial difficulty. This scam is usually run in taxing authorities so taxes get raised to pay for it. PAT isn't a taxing authority, it has just fare increases and route cuts to pay for them.

The preferred option to deal with this would be declaring PAT bankrupt so the courts can cut the pensions, but apparently legislation is required for this.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

If you follow the inflated pension stories (around the country - it's not just a PAT problem), it's quite an effective scam.

Its really not a scam on the part of the workers, its just that the people that wrote up the rules on these pension plans didn't think it out when they did, and the workers are just following the rules as written.

[Blackbeauty212]

You guys talk as if everyone effected has an alternative to use a car......A lot have no other means to get to work....

[Goinback2011]

I_like_spam, it's a scam in my book. If workers can use union rules to put the existence of the company that employs them in jeopardy, I don't see how it's any different than the old games the mob plalyed when someone got indebted to them: strip the money from the business, use it up, then torch it.

[mjost7]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Pitt already has remote parking lots for some of their employees down on 2nd Avenue and on the South Side, minibussing the people to Oakland.

Other large employers or groups of employers might be able to do the same thing.

Organizing van pools for outlying employees could work out as well.

I don't see this problem as insurmountable at all, but instead as a challenge that can be solved by those most affected.

Yes I agree. Basically corporate-sponsored bus service with many workers driving vehicles to those remote lots. I could be wrong, but it seems inefficient or less efficient than full transit service into the core areas.