So, it was after a few minutes of watching local TV station KRON 4 (named after Kang & Kodos' cousin from out of town) that I realised that the BART strike was actually not a result of the pay -demands from a precocious fictional 11 year old cartoon character. It turns out that transport workers the world over are downtrodden and underpaid/spoilt kids (depending on where you're standing on this argument). Having left the threat of TfL strikes in London I have flown straight into threatened strikes on the BART and the buses in San Fran. Good job I'm enjoying the hill-walking around town. 
Before anyone starts getting on any political soap boxes, calm your tits. I am not here to comment on the specifics of the proposed strike, nor am I going to comment on the principle of Unions, blah blah blah. TBH I don't know the specifics, and I couldn't comment on the way transport workers are treated in the US anyway - I know nothing of pay and benefits.
Its just interesting that at a time when I'm seeing so many differences between my homeland and my new city its actually quite comforting to see this parallel. There are the same characters, the same complaints and the same anger. There is much more of a media pantomime here, though, which makes it easier to identify your own heroes and villains. It also makes it easier to suss out the political allegiances of the respective TV stations, which is very handy to know when you're trying to make sense of other stories. I'm looking at you, Fox news...
Interesting as this is I hope it all gets resolved soon though - unlike London there seem to be less public transport options here, so if the BART goes down people seem to have to get up at ridic-o'clock to get buses/coaches. If the tube goes down its a massive pain in the arse, but, even at the arse-end of the Northern line, there are still other options.
No comments:
Post a Comment