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Gutlessness Reaps Its Rewards
By BRADLEY HARRINGTON, For The Bulletin
“Every strike is an act of coercion, a form of extortion, a measure of violence directed against all who might act in opposition to the strikers’ intentions.” – Ludwig von Mises, “Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis,” 1922.
Philadelphians certainly had a rude awakening Tuesday morning, thanks to a sudden strike by the Transport Workers Union Local 234. “The Philadelphia transit system’s largest union went on strike early Tuesday over wage, pension and health care issues, stalling the city’s bus, subway and trolley operations and forcing thousands of commuters to find other ways to get to work – and to Election Day polls,” according to the Associated Press.
Apparently, an average salary of $52,000 per year – with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) offering to increase that by 11.5 percent over a five-year period – just isn’t good enough for these workers. “We can’t allow SEPTA to hide behind the economy for not giving us a fair contract,” Local 234 president Willie Brown told nbcphiladelphia.com. ‘We’re gonna be out here as long as it takes to get a fair contract.”
Fair? What is “fair?” To be determined by whom?
In a free market, it is freely-floating wages – as determined by supply and demand – that determines “fair.” Employers who underpay their workers find themselves with a poor labor force and high turnover rates, neither of which are conducive to good business. Conversely, workers who demand more than market-level wages find themselves unable to gain employment at the inflated levels they are demanding.
In either case, it is the market – not “management” and not “labor” – that makes the final call, as all businesses operate in the wider context of that market. Mr. Brown, with his accusations against SEPTA of trying to “hide behind the economy,” is merely revealing his abysmal ignorance of economics: for it is precisely “the economy” that serves as the backdrop for wage determinations.
The Local 234 transit workers, quite obviously, are not interested in such facts of reality: all they want is their ever-growing piece of the pie, and to hell with all the people – hundreds of thousands of them – who are stuck walking, biking or hitching rides to work. What do all of these transit workers really deserve? To be fired immediately and sent packing. Then they can find out whether the market supports their incredible demands – or not.
The transportation situation in Philadelphia, however – mirrored in nearly every major city in the United States – is anything but “free.” SEPTA, itself, being a government entity, is hardly fertile ground for capitalist economics. Created by public charter in August of 1963 and governed by a 15-member board of directors, all of whom are appointed by various other government bodies, SEPTA is hardly in a position to respond effectively to the profit-loss signals of the marketplace, and is governed in the same fashion as all other such entities: by pork-barrel politics.
Is it any wonder that most Philadelphians find the employees of this organization to be less than service-oriented? “Service,” it should be remembered, is a function of market-oriented business operations – not government-run monopolies. “Everybody hates SEPTA, and this is why,” said Ranisha Allen, according to the AP. “These people go on strike and they don’t think about people they hurt, people who can’t get to work, kids who can’t get to school.”
And, because SEPTA is not a market-oriented institution, the chances of the striking workers being fired for dereliction of duty are small: bumbling bureaucrats afraid to bear the responsibility for a decision are not exactly the epitome of confident resistance to labor-union exploitation. As proof, consider the following comment by Richard Maloney, SEPTA spokesman, “We’re very anxious to get back to the bargaining table, ASAP. We haven’t heard back from them (AP).” Why should he be hearing from them? The Local 234 knows a gutless, spineless puddle of quivering flesh when it sees one.
The long-term solution to the problems Philadelphians are experiencing in regard to their mass transit issues, therefore, would be to privatize the entire operation: sell it off on the free market. Let people who understand transportation and business take it over and run it for a profit. Not only would taxpayers save millions of dollars in the process, but such people would pay a lot more attention to consumer needs and demands than SEPTA does, of that you can be sure.
Bradley Harrington is a former United States Marine and a free-lance writer who lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Philadelphians certainly had a rude awakening Tuesday morning, thanks to a sudden strike by the Transport Workers Union Local 234. “The Philadelphia transit system’s largest union went on strike early Tuesday over wage, pension and health care issues, stalling the city’s bus, subway and trolley operations and forcing thousands of commuters to find other ways to get to work – and to Election Day polls,” according to the Associated Press.
Apparently, an average salary of $52,000 per year – with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) offering to increase that by 11.5 percent over a five-year period – just isn’t good enough for these workers. “We can’t allow SEPTA to hide behind the economy for not giving us a fair contract,” Local 234 president Willie Brown told nbcphiladelphia.com. ‘We’re gonna be out here as long as it takes to get a fair contract.”
Fair? What is “fair?” To be determined by whom?
In a free market, it is freely-floating wages – as determined by supply and demand – that determines “fair.” Employers who underpay their workers find themselves with a poor labor force and high turnover rates, neither of which are conducive to good business. Conversely, workers who demand more than market-level wages find themselves unable to gain employment at the inflated levels they are demanding.
In either case, it is the market – not “management” and not “labor” – that makes the final call, as all businesses operate in the wider context of that market. Mr. Brown, with his accusations against SEPTA of trying to “hide behind the economy,” is merely revealing his abysmal ignorance of economics: for it is precisely “the economy” that serves as the backdrop for wage determinations.
The Local 234 transit workers, quite obviously, are not interested in such facts of reality: all they want is their ever-growing piece of the pie, and to hell with all the people – hundreds of thousands of them – who are stuck walking, biking or hitching rides to work. What do all of these transit workers really deserve? To be fired immediately and sent packing. Then they can find out whether the market supports their incredible demands – or not.
The transportation situation in Philadelphia, however – mirrored in nearly every major city in the United States – is anything but “free.” SEPTA, itself, being a government entity, is hardly fertile ground for capitalist economics. Created by public charter in August of 1963 and governed by a 15-member board of directors, all of whom are appointed by various other government bodies, SEPTA is hardly in a position to respond effectively to the profit-loss signals of the marketplace, and is governed in the same fashion as all other such entities: by pork-barrel politics.
Is it any wonder that most Philadelphians find the employees of this organization to be less than service-oriented? “Service,” it should be remembered, is a function of market-oriented business operations – not government-run monopolies. “Everybody hates SEPTA, and this is why,” said Ranisha Allen, according to the AP. “These people go on strike and they don’t think about people they hurt, people who can’t get to work, kids who can’t get to school.”
And, because SEPTA is not a market-oriented institution, the chances of the striking workers being fired for dereliction of duty are small: bumbling bureaucrats afraid to bear the responsibility for a decision are not exactly the epitome of confident resistance to labor-union exploitation. As proof, consider the following comment by Richard Maloney, SEPTA spokesman, “We’re very anxious to get back to the bargaining table, ASAP. We haven’t heard back from them (AP).” Why should he be hearing from them? The Local 234 knows a gutless, spineless puddle of quivering flesh when it sees one.
The long-term solution to the problems Philadelphians are experiencing in regard to their mass transit issues, therefore, would be to privatize the entire operation: sell it off on the free market. Let people who understand transportation and business take it over and run it for a profit. Not only would taxpayers save millions of dollars in the process, but such people would pay a lot more attention to consumer needs and demands than SEPTA does, of that you can be sure.
Bradley Harrington is a former United States Marine and a free-lance writer who lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
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