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The problem is WMATA needs the union's permission to fire someone regardless of whether the offense is fireable. It is a fireable offense but WMATA did not ask for approval from the union before firing the person. Therefore.. the union wants to give this deadbeat his/her job back. That is why WMATA is suing the union.
I don't know anything about management involvement nore do I know why you would jump to that conclusion without knowing anything yourself.
My question is why you are so quick to rush to the union's defense.
Because guys like you blame "unions" when the problems were systemic and organizationally cultural and started at the top.
And no, they don't have to "ask permission" to fire someone. They do, however, have to follow contractual obligations which they apparently didn't. Once again a management issue.
Then, when a GM comes in and starts to clean things up you guys start yelling for his head to roll because you're being inconvenienced. And the the default fix is always raise taxes.
As I said, Metro came within a **** hair of being taken over by the feds a few months ago.
Because guys like you blame "unions" when the problems were systemic and organizationally cultural and started at the top.
And no, they don't have to "ask permission" to fire someone. They do, however, have to follow contractual obligations which they apparently didn't. Once again a management issue.
Then, when a GM comes in and starts to clean things up you guys start yelling for his head to roll because you're being inconvenienced. And the the default fix is always raise taxes.
As I said, Metro came within a **** hair of being taken over by the feds a few months ago.
LOL at you thinking contractual obligations are more important than safety and human lives. Screw contractual obligations if lives are at stake. Get real.
I support most of what the new GM is doing. Mainly he is getting attention and keeping things in the spot light which is good.
While Metro does have management and cultural problems the union is still problem too. If you think the union is innocent in all this then you are delusional. Any union that protects incompetence and negligence is garbage and needs to go down in flames ASAP.
So, what you advocate is contracts being void. That works well until it's you.
You are not understanding what I'm saying anyway. Safety, or lack of it, sure didn't matter to you a few weeks ago when you were bitching about Safe Track and how inconvenient it is.
Back to your original question, late night service will be implemented if ridership, or potential ridership, warrants it. No transit system will run strings of empty cars just because drunk hipsters might ride on them, maybe.
So, what you advocate is contracts being void. That works well until it's you.
You are not understanding what I'm saying anyway. Safety, or lack of it, sure didn't matter to you a few weeks ago when you were bitching about Safe Track and how inconvenient it is.
Back to your original question, late night service will be implemented if ridership, or potential ridership, warrants it. No transit system will run strings of empty cars just because drunk hipsters might ride on them, maybe.
Get your facts straight. I was never "bitching about Safe Track". You have me confused with someone else. Learn to read and remember better.
As far as contracts go.. human lives matter more than contracts. If you think otherwise then you have screwed up priorities. You think its more important for some incompetent deadbeat to keep his job than for the second busiest subway system in the country to transport people safely. That is a big "wow" for me.
Geesh. Have you ever read the labor contract? I'd love to find it, but can't find it. So we don't know the gory details. We do know though, based on many published articles, that job security is very high on the list of job objectives for labor contracts.
How we got to this point I don't know, but I do know that labor is 90% of metro's problems, including excessive labor expense, lack of employee accountability, lack of motivation, terrible labor rules, like the one that only drivers can be the guards at the ends of a work zone. I guess only drivers know what an oncoming train looks like?
Geesh. Have you ever read the labor contract? I'd love to find it, but can't find it. So we don't know the gory details. We do know though, based on many published articles, that job security is very high on the list of job objectives for labor contracts.
How we got to this point I don't know, but I do know that labor is 90% of metro's problems, including excessive labor expense, lack of employee accountability, lack of motivation, terrible labor rules, like the one that only drivers can be the guards at the ends of a work zone. I guess only drivers know what an oncoming train looks like?
These contracts were likely developed at a time when "stick it to the man" and bleed the Government dominated the political climate in the DC area. I think it might also be a generational thing too.
Of course "job security" is top priority. Same with most Government jobs. Lazy people seek such jobs because they can basically get paid a living wage to barely lift a finger. In addition, they can suck at their job without getting fired. Its a cushy life.
At its core.. this kind of thing starts and ends with people hiring, working with and protecting their "friends". A fancy word for corruption with some high school clique mentality sprinkled on top.
It occurs in a different form in the private industry. You have incompetent bimbos getting jobs because they have large boobs or because they sleep with the right person. But this is what happens when you don't have proper checks and balances in place.
^ agreed. There's still an unusual political dynamic in DC, where the old guard, African American mostly, continues to hold power and implements policies mostly for the favor of their constituents. I think much of this attitude affected Metro in the formative years, where DC rather dominated Metro. After all, for the first few years, Metro was mostly DC.
Metro should invest in their metrobus service, with more buses on more routes. We should abandon the death trap and take the bus instead.
Sure if you want a 4 hour commute in each direction then you'll love the bus.
Since Metro was built with highway money.. DC never got a complex highway system to alleviate traffic. There was no money for both. It was either "build a subway" or "build a highway". The subway won the battle (barely). So now Metro has a monopoly on transportation in the DC area. Especially since the original street car system that existed before Metro was scrapped before Metro opened.
There is no avoiding Metro at this point. Most post-metro development in DC has been designed around metro. For instance, the entire NoMa neighborhood only exists because of that metro stop. Prior to that metro stop, NoMa was just a wasteland of warehouses and parking lots. Metro has reached "too big to fail" status.
These contracts were likely developed at a time when "stick it to the man" and bleed the Government dominated the political climate in the DC area. I think it might also be a generational thing too.
Of course "job security" is top priority. Same with most Government jobs. Lazy people seek such jobs because they can basically get paid a living wage to barely lift a finger. In addition, they can suck at their job without getting fired. Its a cushy life.
At its core.. this kind of thing starts and ends with people hiring, working with and protecting their "friends". A fancy word for corruption with some high school clique mentality sprinkled on top.
It occurs in a different form in the private industry. You have incompetent bimbos getting jobs because they have large boobs or because they sleep with the right person. But this is what happens when you don't have proper checks and balances in place.
The WMATA union is trash through.
this is interesting......back in the chocolate city era the metro ran just fine......same group of employees. Even when gentrification expanded beyond logan circle and U Street the metro still worked fine. same set of employees.
Ever since the metro got new management the ride quality is going into the sewer ridership is declining and now they wanna cancel late night service......seems to me this general manager that you jockride so much just might be the problem....
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