BART Strike: Who do you stand with?

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Why should everyone automatically get raises just for doing their jobs? Ideally, this practice wouldn't exist. Inflation would be minimized. Raises wouldn't be necessary. People could get paid better by working hard and earning promotions.

I know it's not an ideal world, but my God, I always sort of shake my head when workers get all up in arms over pay freezes. I know that's not what this particular strike is about, but I think back to Ontario teachers last year. A raise should be a pleasant surprise, not a dogmatic, yearly expectation. Especially in the case of the teachers—the raises they got over the last ten years have been ridiculously high compared to the raises of workers in virtually every other sector. Take the pay freeze and be thankful for what you've got.

To be clear, more and more I find myself against Right to Work policies and in favour of collective bargaining rights. But sometimes the unions just ask for too much. Maybe I'm overreacting with the BART strike, but a 12% raise is awfully generous, even in the context of four years without a hike. To hold up public transportation for the tens of tousands of people who need it just because their "raise isn't big enough" (meanwhile the busboy at Olive Garden gets nothing) is really unnecessary.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Wouldn't indexing the minimum wage to inflation just be like a dog chasing its tail? That's how it has often seemed to me. Same thing for cost of living adjustments.

But if there are going to be cost of living adjustments, why are additional raises necessary for the same job and the same work? Individuals are entitled to higher pay just for their seniority, but that's usually part of a fixed wage ladder. What is the point of the extra money above and beyond the COLA?

And the wage freezes only have that effect if people have come to expect raises. It will affect earnings for everyone, insofar as they will think they "deserve more" (often on the backs of taxpayers, without regard for debt and deficits). They're still being paid. Nothing is being taken away.