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Silent Strike
If what was written in today's Boston Metro is true then employees of the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail have made a huge tactical mistake. The article says rail employees have been involved in a "working strike" since September. Since around that time I have not been on an on-time P528 train on the way home from Natick. This is not an exaggeration. The article and my experiences line up. Slow service, sometimes only a single door open, lames excuses for delay and lots of waiting in colder and colder weather.

Instead of making their grievances public, alerting potentially sympathetic riders, the union has taken it out on the riders. Now instead of directing my ire solely at the MBTA, the MBCR and CSX, MBCR employees will have to take some of the blame. There are many riders, myself included, that I believe would support these employees. Many riders take the train because it helps the environment. While this doesn't mean you are necessarily a strong supporter of labor rights there is a strong correlation. The main reason to support the workers though is that poor working conditions are an obvious cause of worsening customer service in just about any industry.

Knowing this beforehand would only increase my anger with the MBCR. Instead, I've been left in the dark, made to think people were working hard to get me home in reasonable time. I was not given the information I needed to make other arrangements. I was, quite literally, left out in the cold. So, MBCR employees, if this is true then you have lost my almost guaranteed support of your position. I will support your side only as far as it helps me and other riders. My support will not be from someone generally inclined to support workers in struggles with management.

P.S. I have notes written on my computer or on notepads for letters I've wanted to write to the MBTA, MBCR and CSX. Now I don't know if I should write these. God, this was a dumb move. I really hope it's not true.
You're assuming here that the union has a means of getting their message out. A lot of times the media chooses to ignore stories for whatever reason. (Although this might not be the case here, it is something to consider.)

Posted at 11/21/2007 5:08:25 PM by ramanan


Good point. I did actually consider whether something like that was against the Taft-Hartley Act or some other labor law. Like a good blogger I didn't check it though.

Posted at 11/22/2007 7:20:08 PM by Jeff


The problem is that the union agreed to the items the workers are upset about. The union has to sign off on the schedule changes that they are mad about. These actions they are taking are not specificly directed by the union, they are just a collective bunch of disgruntled workers and we commuters bear the price.

Posted at 11/23/2007 10:05:42 AM by Tim G.


 
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