This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now workplace newsletter at Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in the San Francisco Bay area.
The way this contract has been presented, some workers feel like there are no good choices. They are caught between a rock and a hard place. A 2% increase every six months is next to nothing, but better than nothing. And, what happens if it is voted down?
Is that just the way it is? That’s the situation most workers in this country find themselves in. Union officials and management took it upon themselves to negotiate terms of a new contract a year ahead of the expiration without any input from workers. And, as is usual, they emerged with the “last best offer.” And workers are expected to just say “yes” or “no.” There’s always a threat of something worse, if you say “no” – usually a worse contract.
This is known as service unionism. You pay union dues and the union is supposed to deliver. But this ain’t no pizza – it’s people’s lives that are impacted.
There has been no attempt to organize union members. The relationship of forces is not equal at the bargaining table. The bosses always have the upper hand there – everything in society supports them. Workers’ power is in our numbers and our role in making the system run.
