Open Your Eyes

You know, it's a sad day when you hear every day ordinary people echoing comments that are usually made by the likes of the Allegheny Institute / Allegheny Conference. (slash, because they all work together and look out for their own pocket books not to help tax payers as they may attempt to suggest. Follow the money, see who funds them).

The fact that people buy into their dog whistle politics are whats wrong with this country. It hit me very hard while enjoying a cup coffee with a few old friends, when unexpectedly the conversation turned into discussion about the drink tax.

The four of us grew up together in a working-class, (predominantly Italian) neighborhood in the city of Pittsburgh. We were all raised by union families. Many of us went to Catholic schools, paid for by our parents' union wages. Most of our parents are living secure retirements, because of their union pensions. Three of us are union members now. It was therefore, shocking and depressing to me when the fourth one of us, declared that they should privatize the Port Authority and that he didn't think it was fair that the public has to pay for the Port Authority with the drink tax.

It was like my heart broke to hear him say that.

The complete line of bull that is being fed to the people of Allegheny County by the media in this town about the Port Authority & ATU Local 85 contract talks sickens me.

Why is the local media (irresponsibly) feeding the citizens of Allegheny County the idea that Local 85 is going on strike-- like it is inevitable?

Why is it OK for the media to fill the heads of the tax payers of this region with lies?

Why is it OK for local news papers to print "plant stories" by Port Authority Management?

Why is it OK for all the mismanagement over the years to be taken out on the workers?

Fear, Jealousy, and Misinformation is the key to their success. Just when ridership is on the steady up rise they want to put the fear of a work stoppage in the public's head.

They try to make people jealous by posting salaries of drivers and maintenance workers, because they know that many people who ride public transit are victims of our low-wage economy. To people who are struggling to make it in a non-union job, our salary can seem like a lot. In reality, bus drivers are making enough to live a decent life, not an extravagant life. Very few of us are able to sacrifice our personal and family time to work the amount of over time you have to work to exceed than the 40,000 average salary.

They constantly give misinformation on ATU member's pensions and the supposed cuts in management jobs.

Why are Jake Haulk of the Allegheny Institute and Ken Zapinski of the Allegheny Conference so motivated to constantly take a one sided approach to this topic. What is their motivation to rip off the blue collar, hard working, people of Allegheny County who use public transit.

Or, maybe it's just the (over-paid, lazy) Unionized workers that they're after.These people are here for good old fashioned UNION BUSTING, and they need your help. They want to enrage ordinary people to help them further their agenda:

• They want you to write letters to the editor, send emails and and write comments agreeing with them on their blogs about the overpaid bus drivers.
  
• They want you to stand around the office water cooler with your co-workers and bad mouth "Union Workers".

What's sad is that these horrible Union Workers are your family, friends, your neighbors. They are the fireman, the policeman, your mailman, your garbage man, your kid's school teacher, and your bus driver-- (even the nice ones).

Come on, who are the Allegheny Conference, or groups who want to privatize transit like the Allegheny Institute looking out for?? Is it you? Is it me?

Most union members appreciate their union and would not deny another worker the right to have a union-- that's why it's called the Labor Movement. But the Allegheny Institute and the Allegheny Conference want you believe Unions are what is destroying America. They are pitting us against one another while every day their Big Business, Corporate backed Think Tank mentality tears the middle class apart.

Please stop and think the next time you hear them spew their evil venom on the hard working people of this great Commonwealth. This Country was built by hard working people, don't let them divide us any longer.

TRUE LIES

Isn't it amazing how the free hand of the market takes care
of the most-vulnerable? Isn't it amazing how Private
Corporations look out for the taxpayer? Isn't it amazing
how our free press continually pushes for the corporate
control of our taxpayer services? Of course we're being a
little sarcastic in the amazing abilities of the free market
when it comes to taxpayer provided services. The sad truth
of the matter is that we're being hoodwinked by interests that
care of themselves and not of the public good. The biggest lie
that the American Public has ever been told are the virtues of
a Public Private Enterprise. Oh yea they're great if your the
private party (no risk) guaranteed money (through your taxes)
guaranteed profit (through your taxes) is the one involved.

However for the rest of us (the Taxpayers) our services will
continually be whittled away until the profit margin is all
that will remain of our endeavors. This is what the Politicians
of our transit agency (Dan Onorato)have in mind.

A public-private partnership sounds great in theory until the
facts are laid out in front of us. There is not one single
place in the U.S. where this model has worked for the benefit
of its citizenry. (Name one) The office of the County Executive
has continually used as an example the transit agency of Denver
Colorado. Upon further review the facts show what a failure it
has been for the people of the Mile High City.

Unreliable service, Higher costs to the electorate, more
congestion in the inner city and suburbs and no answers to the
traffic problem that befuddle commuters. On the other hand the
private service provider has become extremely wealthy thanks
to the taxpayers of Denver. We have to ask ourselves are we in
this together? Are we in this for Veolia? Are we in this for
our children? A sense of Community is as American as Apple Pie.
Let's reject this empowerment that our polls are imposing upon
us with their campaign contributions from outside sources who
wish to enrich themselves with OUR TAXES and show them we believe
in ourselves through an American Democracy that we the people
elect. The Alternative will undoubtedly be endless transit
cutbacks and ever growing profits for a Private Concern.

(THE COMMONS ARE FOR EVERYONE NOT THE PRIVILEGED FEW)