Saturday, March 27, 2010
PUSH / LOCAL 241 UNITED TO SAVE JOBS
The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson and members of the Rainbow PUS Coalition joined forces at a rally Saturday, Marh 27, 2010 in an effort to restore service at CTA and to put the more than 1200 workers recently laid off back to work.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
What's wrong with being highest paid?
by Ferman Mentrell Beckless
As a laid-off Chicago Transit Authority bus operator, I take exception to the inferrence that CTA operators are the highest paid in the industry. And, if we are, what's wrong with being the highest paid.
First, I would like for Chicago Tribune reporter Jon Hilkevitch to get his facts before depicting bus operators as a bunch of greedy men and women who are only concerned about a paycheck. Many operators, such as myself, applied for the job for a variety of reasons.
First, I applied for the job because I am indeed a people person who cherishes the act of interacting and assisting others. Secondly, I appreciate the benefits that come with being a bus operator, including the pay.
The mayor of the City of Chicago campaigned hard to become mayor and spent millions of dollars in the proces of doing so. Yet, he makes a six-figure salary with a responsibility to serve all citizens of the City of Chicago. Was there anything wrong with him being highly paid?
The mayor then appoints cabinet members who also have a responsibility to the citizenry of Chicago. Most of them are making six-figure salaries that only seems to serve as a pre-requisite to becomng convicted felons because they find it difficult keeping their sticky fingers out of the cookie jar.
Let us not stop there.
The people at 567 West Lake Street (CTA headquarters) are making pretty hefty salaries, as well. Some with the responsibility of making decisions pertinent to the operation of public transportation in Chicago.
Just as the mayor tells you how great public education in Chicago is while sending his own children to private schools, CTA management would like for you to know how great public transportation is in Chicago while motoring around town in chauffeur-driven vehicles at the expense of the CTA and the taxpayers of the City of Chicago.
Does anyone ever wonder why CTA management is always crying broke.
Other facts that isn't ou for the public to see, but I'l be glad to reveal.
A bus operator at CTA starts off as a part-time employee making only 65 percent of what the highest paid bus operator makes. At $28.64 per hour, 65 percent of that ($18.62) is the starting salary for a bus oprator working part-time.
By contract that operator is never to make more than 32 hours per week. After accumulating 2,080 hours, that operator moves up to 70 percent. Then, after accumulating another 2,080 hours, that operator moves up to 75 percent.
In order to get up to 80 percent, he/she must accumulate another 2,080 hours before making the jump to 100 percent of a bus operator's pay.
With at least 25 percent of all bus operators working as part-timers, that only leaves 75 percent working as full-timers. Add in the fact that all full-timers are not at maximum pay, and there you have it.
To this moment, I don't know why Mr. Hilkevitch didn't include this in his story that was published on March 9, 2010.
Another fact Mr. Hilkevitch obviously didn't look at is, the vast majority of bus operators are Black and Brown-skinned. Very few whites are even applying for the job and there are a variety of reasons.
Some of us believe that because we stood behind our union leaders and encouraged them not to open the contract as the mayor and his minions have insisted, that we are the arrogant "Kneegrows," er, slaves that stood up to the almighty and powerful Mr. Daley.
In the City of Chicago, garbage collectors make considerably more money than bus operators. Yet, this is not an issue. Someone should please convince me that as a bus operator, I am not as relevant to the city as a garbage collector.
Factor in the high cost of living in Chicago, someone should tell me why I shouldn't mak a decent living so that my children and grandchildren can attend the same schools, eat at the same restaurants and attend the same functions as the mayor and his minions. Especially those who are just a heartbeat away from a Federal indictment for corruption.
It has become pretty hard to believe that in the city where the nation's president hails from during a time of economic instability, the president's fellow Democratic party members can't wait to put more citizens in the unemployment lines while cutting back on a service that provides a means for others to get to and from his/her place of employment.
And don't forget, it wasn't that long ago when the CTA borrowed a billion dollars from the union's pension fund, a loan that was forgiven by the previous union's administration.
Yes, with what a bus operator must go through on a daily basis, not only with the riding public, but also with TA's management, we should be the highest paid in the industry.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT?????
As a laid-off Chicago Transit Authority bus operator, I take exception to the inferrence that CTA operators are the highest paid in the industry. And, if we are, what's wrong with being the highest paid.
First, I would like for Chicago Tribune reporter Jon Hilkevitch to get his facts before depicting bus operators as a bunch of greedy men and women who are only concerned about a paycheck. Many operators, such as myself, applied for the job for a variety of reasons.
First, I applied for the job because I am indeed a people person who cherishes the act of interacting and assisting others. Secondly, I appreciate the benefits that come with being a bus operator, including the pay.
The mayor of the City of Chicago campaigned hard to become mayor and spent millions of dollars in the proces of doing so. Yet, he makes a six-figure salary with a responsibility to serve all citizens of the City of Chicago. Was there anything wrong with him being highly paid?
The mayor then appoints cabinet members who also have a responsibility to the citizenry of Chicago. Most of them are making six-figure salaries that only seems to serve as a pre-requisite to becomng convicted felons because they find it difficult keeping their sticky fingers out of the cookie jar.
Let us not stop there.
The people at 567 West Lake Street (CTA headquarters) are making pretty hefty salaries, as well. Some with the responsibility of making decisions pertinent to the operation of public transportation in Chicago.
Just as the mayor tells you how great public education in Chicago is while sending his own children to private schools, CTA management would like for you to know how great public transportation is in Chicago while motoring around town in chauffeur-driven vehicles at the expense of the CTA and the taxpayers of the City of Chicago.
Does anyone ever wonder why CTA management is always crying broke.
Other facts that isn't ou for the public to see, but I'l be glad to reveal.
A bus operator at CTA starts off as a part-time employee making only 65 percent of what the highest paid bus operator makes. At $28.64 per hour, 65 percent of that ($18.62) is the starting salary for a bus oprator working part-time.
By contract that operator is never to make more than 32 hours per week. After accumulating 2,080 hours, that operator moves up to 70 percent. Then, after accumulating another 2,080 hours, that operator moves up to 75 percent.
In order to get up to 80 percent, he/she must accumulate another 2,080 hours before making the jump to 100 percent of a bus operator's pay.
With at least 25 percent of all bus operators working as part-timers, that only leaves 75 percent working as full-timers. Add in the fact that all full-timers are not at maximum pay, and there you have it.
To this moment, I don't know why Mr. Hilkevitch didn't include this in his story that was published on March 9, 2010.
Another fact Mr. Hilkevitch obviously didn't look at is, the vast majority of bus operators are Black and Brown-skinned. Very few whites are even applying for the job and there are a variety of reasons.
Some of us believe that because we stood behind our union leaders and encouraged them not to open the contract as the mayor and his minions have insisted, that we are the arrogant "Kneegrows," er, slaves that stood up to the almighty and powerful Mr. Daley.
In the City of Chicago, garbage collectors make considerably more money than bus operators. Yet, this is not an issue. Someone should please convince me that as a bus operator, I am not as relevant to the city as a garbage collector.
Factor in the high cost of living in Chicago, someone should tell me why I shouldn't mak a decent living so that my children and grandchildren can attend the same schools, eat at the same restaurants and attend the same functions as the mayor and his minions. Especially those who are just a heartbeat away from a Federal indictment for corruption.
It has become pretty hard to believe that in the city where the nation's president hails from during a time of economic instability, the president's fellow Democratic party members can't wait to put more citizens in the unemployment lines while cutting back on a service that provides a means for others to get to and from his/her place of employment.
And don't forget, it wasn't that long ago when the CTA borrowed a billion dollars from the union's pension fund, a loan that was forgiven by the previous union's administration.
Yes, with what a bus operator must go through on a daily basis, not only with the riding public, but also with TA's management, we should be the highest paid in the industry.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT?????
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