MACFARLANE-BETTER BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

What walkout taught us all


Phoenix's largest bus contractor, Veolia Transportation, and its drivers union have settled their differences. Barring new developments, Phoenix drivers (and those in Tempe) will return to work on Friday after six tumultuous days for residents who rely on public transit.

What have we learned?

That the interests of Valley residents were weighed during this strike only in terms of how their inconvenience could be leveraged to the advantage of one side or the other.

The bus drivers sought to portray themselves as the friends of their passengers, as fellow working men and women. A primary cause for the work stoppage was the unwillingness of drivers to pick up 6 percent of their health-care costs. That attitude proved grating to many of the working people they transport daily, including those with employer-paid health-care coverage. Virtually everyone in the real world pays out of their own pockets at least that much.

Privatizing municipal services like mass transit has obvious benefits like containing costs. But no system comes without downside consequences. The Phoenix/Tempe bus-drivers strike may have been between the employees union and the company, but the revenue source they fought over was no different from what public-sector unions and government fight over: the taxpayer's dime.

A new phrase: "liquidated damages," which are payments the bus company must make to Phoenix if it fails to meet certain performance standards, like on-time service. We have not learned, precisely, why we must call them liquidated damages and not "penalties" or "fines," even though that is exactly what they seem to be.

Perversely, we have learned with greater clarity how important mass transit is to a large metropolitan region like the Valley. We are not exclusively dependent on cars for transportation. This experience should be a lesson for future regional transportation discussions regarding the mobility of the Valley's labor force. This was a short strike, yet the economy of central Arizona was rattled by it. What happens to the economy if a lengthy transit strike occurs?

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and the Phoenix City Council did not play a direct role in contract negotiations, other than hiring former Supreme Court Justice Ruth McGregor as a third-party negotiator. Inexplicably, the union walked out only days after McGregor arrived on the job and, by many accounts, had begun making progress on contract talks.

Stanton did act quickly to restart negotiations. He personally brought in late-night pizza. And he resisted pointing fingers, which was wise.

That disappointment by members of the public is all-inclusive. They blame everyone. The drivers. Veolia. And their city.

We learned that Phoenix and Tempe bus passengers proved remarkably patient, considerate of others and resourceful at finding alternative ways to get where they needed to go, even after many of them had been forced to wait two hours or more for a bus. Veolia and their bus drivers should be proud to serve them.

Last, we learned that the best way to demonstrate that appreciation is to resolve differences without resorting to a strike.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/2012/03/14/20120314editorial0315-what-walkout-taught-us-all.html#ixzz1pE48gtGB