Transit Union Plays Nuclear Terrorist Card

In response to Union Hires Non-Union Workers at Minimum Wage to Protest a Company Hiring Non-Union Workers "Harm" commented ...

Now that Mish has brought to light every conceivable form of labor union hypocrisy and corruption (and I must admit, he really hit the mark on this one), can we move on the *other* evil "unions" that are robbing us all blind?

Hold your horses.

Please consider the following image snips from the New York Metro "News" Report Attack on Iran will start war, won�t stop nukes.

"Harm" I believe you stand corrected, in less than a day I might add. With that out of the way, let's take a look at other transportation news.

Pittsburgh Port Authority: $7 suburban fares possible

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Port Authority: $7 suburban fares possible

Fares on suburban commuter routes could rise to $7 or more and service could be slashed 25 percent or more as the Port Authority tries to dig out of its latest financial hole.

The authority faces a $50.6 million deficit for the fiscal year that begins July 1 despite three years of financial reforms that have produced $52 million in annual savings, CEO Steve Bland said.

State aid, which makes up about half of the authority's income, has not increased in four years and is scheduled to decrease by $25 million, to about $159 million, in the coming year because of the failure of the Legislature's Act 44 transportation funding law.

Enacted in 2007, it relied heavily on generating new toll revenue from Interstate 80. That plan was nixed by the Federal Highway Administration this spring, leaving the state with a giant deficit in its highway, bridge and transit budgets.

With no growth in revenue, Port Authority faces rising salary, health care, pension and fuel expenses, all of which are largely beyond its short-term control.

Its drivers are among the nation's highest-paid at $24.74 an hour and are under contract through June 2012. The contract, hammered out in December 2008 after acrimonious negotiations, provided 11 percent in raises over four years. The authority's salary expenditures are expected to increase by $5 million in the coming year.

Oakland California: Judge Orders Arbitratrion

KTVU reports Judge Orders AC Transit To Enter Arbitration With Union

A judge Friday ordered AC Transit to enter into binding arbitration with the bus agency's 1,600 employees to try to reach an agreement on a new contract.

The ruling by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch was a blow to the financially-troubled bus agency, whose outside spokesman, Sam Singer, predicted two weeks ago that a lawsuit by the employees' union would be dismissed.

Singer said the bus agency, which serves parts of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, is seeking $15.7 million in labor cost savings to help close a projected $56 million funding gap for the two-year period ending June 30, 2011.

ATU Local 192 lead negotiator Claudia Hudson said the union has offered $9 million in savings for the first year of a new contract with "substantial savings" in the second and third years.

This is absolutely idiotic. Management should outsource the entire outfit to the lowest bidder. No other response makes any sense.

Christie looks to privatize motor vehicle inspections, other services

Thankfully someone knows what to do. Please consider Christie looks to privatize motor vehicle inspections, other services.

New Jersey would close its centralized car inspection lanes and motorists would pay for their own emissions tests under a sweeping set of recommendations set to be released by the Christie administration today.

State parks, psychiatric hospitals and even turnpike toll booths could also be run by private operators, according to the 57-page report on privatization obtained by The Star-Ledger. Preschool classrooms would no longer be built at public expense, state employees would pay for parking and private vendors would dish out food, deliver health care and run education programs behind prison walls.

All told, the report says, New Jersey could save at least $210 million a year by delivering an array of services through private hands.

"The question has to be, �Why do you continue to operate in a manner that�s more costly and less effective?� rather than, �Why change?�?" said Richard Zimmer, the former Republican congressman who chaired the task force.

Once again, three cheers to Christie who not only wants to privatize vehicle inspections, but everything else too.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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