Beating down transit workers

It's happened all around the world, transit workers are a 'soft target' for the oligarchs. And it doesn't matter what they are actually making, the script is the same no matter where the cuts are proposed for.

Brown won a wage increase for SEPTA workers - said to be 5 percent over the two years - and didn't resort to a walkout, as in 2009, when he said he was "the most hated man in Philadelphia."
Despite the handshakes and smiles for the cameras Friday night, Brown didn't settle the pension issue that he had said was the main sticking point during talks.(already given away by our union)

He had argued that TWU members were getting shortchanged on their retirement benefits compared with SEPTA managers.(that's an understatement in terms of Trimet)

That debate will continue.
The other cloud on the horizon is health-care contributions.
SEPTA workers, like many employees of large companies, have relatively generous health insurance benefits.
Such "Cadillac" insurance plans will soon be taxed more heavily than others under terms of the Affordable Care Act.

SEPTA settlement leaves hard choices for another day