Wow, Mr Argue, you're beginning to sound like an A.N.S.W.E.R. leaflet. Anti-imperialist slogans won't do jack to solve METRO's problems. I suggest you read this op-ed in last Sunday's Sentinel (pardon the link to corporate media). Ending profiteering in the insurance industry would go a long way in this issue.

The fact is, transit districts all across the country are facing the exact same problems of increased operating costs, stemming mainly from increased energy and insurance costs. Both of those need to be addressed on a macro level, which is precisely why chanting, "Victory to the Bus Driver’s Union!" like a rabid groupie will not solve much. There's nothing METRO can do about the larger root causes. The give-and-take management in which management has been able to engage has been reasonable.

But you refuse to let go of your dichotomized benevolent union versus evil employer worldview. Sometimes that indeed is the case. As a UCSC student, I adamantly supported this past year's labor actions and joined AFSCME and student solidarity on the front lines. The UC Regents were clearly in the wrong, hoarding billions in cash reserves, engaging in questionable spending priorities, and deliberately attempting to divide-and-conquer unions and students alike.

That is completely not the case with METRO, whose management listens intently to passenger and worker input and very much takes it to heart. UTU agreed three years ago to a raise, paid for by an increase in health care premiums today. Now they refuse to accept. Who is in the wrong here?