Glimmer of hope in ending the Tucson bus strike

[Ptah]

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) -

The Teamsters Local 104 union and Sun Tran will meet for an all-day session on Tuesday to see if the two sides can come to an agreement to end the 33-day-old walkout.

Regardless of the outcome on Tuesday, the two sides have also scheduled another all-day meeting for Thursday.

Marathon sessions do not insure an agreement is imminent, but "the fact we're talking is a sign of hope," according to Andrew Marshall, spokesman for the Teamsters.

Marshall would not say how far apart the two sides still are, but conceded "we are closer than we were."

http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/29976159/glimmer-of-hope-in-tucsons-bus-strike

[ChazInAz]

1. Let's hope.

The municipal government has been using this as an opportunity to vilify unions, dragging out negotiations, refusing to negotiate and grandstanding, all the while hurting Tucson's poorer citizens. They've really driven a wedge between the community and the labor movement.

[Ptah]

2. Here's a thorough article that explains the situation quite well, I think:

Subsidy express: Who gets a lift, and who does Sun Tran take for a ride?

The Sun Tran strike is essentially about the word "subsidy" and just how sympathetic the
community is to both the drivers and the riders.

Face it, Sun Tran is the city of Tucson's big welfare program that takes from the rich to help
out the poor.

Questions follow. Is the budget more untouchable than the riders are important? Does the city
value policy or service? Where should they draw the line with one for the benefit of the other?
Where are the community's sympathies?

A day after the Arizona Daily Star ran a Tony Davis piece about the community of Bowie seeing
its water disappear (making the journalism gods proud), the morning daily printed a front-page ad
for Professional Transit Management, leaving no doubt where it stood on the issue, as the wall
between editorial and hard news just melted away.

http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/opinion/report/090815_bus_subsidy_op/subsidy-express-who-gets-lift-and-who-does-sun-tran-take-ride/