Another One Rides The Bus

San Francisco Supervisor Sean Elsbard has proposed changing the way the City's transit employees' wages are set. Since the City Charter mandates that our bus driver's always have at least the second highest pay rate in the country (!), Elsbard has to get the voters to pass an initiative changing this. If he can survive the Secret Bus Driver's Ninja Assassination Squad, he may be on to something: Proposed Initiative Aims At MUNI Driver's Pay

A San Francisco supervisor is following through on his plan to curb Muni's labor costs and on Monday submitted a proposed initiative for the November ballot.

The plan takes direct aim at a controversial salary formula enshrined in the city charter that for more than four decades has guaranteed Muni drivers their spot as the second highest-paid transit operators in the nation.

It also would eliminate a trust fund for Muni operators that has resulted in yearly payouts of up to $3,000 for full-time operators. The fund originally was established to help defray health care costs for dependents, but operators can use that money any way they choose.

Under the proposed charter amendment, the city would be required - in the first contract only - to provide the same health coverage to Muni operators as the majority of other city employees.

Supervisor Sean Elsbernd believes that by making the big-ticket costs of salaries and benefits part of contract negotiations, management may have more leverage to enact changes in work rules, such as scheduling and discipline, to make the system more efficient.

You hear a lot of butch talk around here about how SF is a "union town." That used to mean everyone belonged to some sort of blue collar union, but no more. Now it just means the (largely public sector) unions are a voting bloc with $$ and special interest skin in the game. But, sssshhhhh, everyone likes to think SF is actually a ruff 'n' tuff, hard workin' town. (HAH!)

The MUNI drivers have not exactly gone out of their way to endear themselves to the often non-union public. They recently rejected an 8% pay raise, and have historically demanded and received a level of job security that the teachers' union could envy. And, they don't exactly have a reputation for friendly, enthusiastic service while seated on their thrones, er, driver's seats.

For Elsbard's part, he may be latching on to the zeitgeist. (The first comment on the linked article is "where do I sign," a sentiment I think you can hear around the City). After all, Mayor Newsom got his start with a proposition aimed at the dysfunctional manner by which the City funded its homeless programs. Before then, funding programs for the homeless was another impregnable sacred cow, but enough people got disgusted with it to ignore the usual cries of "heartlessness" and changed the way things had been done for decades. There's absolutely no reason why Elsbard couldn't do the same.

Mish has further thoughts on this.