I just started reading this thread, and the one thing that jumped out at me was this phrase:

"Metro forcing the drivers out on strike..."

Huh? What? "Forcing"?

That's not what happened. What happened was this:

UTU made an offer, and the Metro Board turned it down. So UTU went on strike.

Simple.

Not complicated.

Not forcing.

Striking was UTU's decision alone.

By way of contrast, many other in UTU's position would have been DELIGHTED to have been "forced" to take the package offered by Metro, and would now be happily driving the buses. (Me included!)

But not UTU. UTU has decided to view a very generous compensation package as something insulting that "forced" them on on the picket line.

Strange!

Oh well. it's a free country, and one is entitled to one's thoughts. If $50-70k for top-end drivers, with all sorts of nice perks thrown in make you feel "forced" to go on strike, then that is your right.

It seems like the problem here is UTU's strong desires. They desire to be MORE than the fourth-highest paid busdrivers in the nation. They desire to EXTEND THEIR LEAD as the highest-paid busdrivers in the nation for cities the size of Santa Cruz. For whatever reason, they have manufactured this desire entirely on their own, and are entirely unwilling to dismantle this desire that resides in them and them alone, even when is is plain to see that the Metro is strapped.

But the members of UTU can get rid of these desires. It's easy, if you try. Just adjust your expectations. It won't take much.

Just be happy with the outstanding pay and benfits you now get. Be content with the fact that you live in such a lenient and generous city that has made you among the elite of the nation's busdrivers for compensation packages. Pat yourself on the back for having worked your way into such a nice situation.

But don't kill the the goose that lays the golden eggs!

---Concerned Citizen