The strike that hurt -- and helped -- no-one

[imomus]

A working citywide public transport system is a wonderful thing. But, weirdly enough, a non-working citywide public transport system can be beautiful too.

For the last ten days, Berlin has had no buses, no trams and no U-bahn trains running. Drivers have been demanding a 12% pay increase. They're now indicating that an increase of between 3% and 9% might be acceptable, and that they might return to work tomorrow. One reason this long strike hasn't got the drivers what they wanted is that it's hurt almost nobody.

Spiegel reports that while the strike has been on, the city of Berlin has been saving a million euros every two days (the city subsidizes its transport system to the tune of €500,000 a day). The strike also hasn't really hurt BVG, the company which operates Berlin's public transport. Most people already have seasonal or annual travel passes, so BVG gets paid whether it runs transport services or not. They won't refund pass holders because the S-Bahn network, which the passes also cover, is still running.

Berlin daily Die Tageszeitung reported that BVG's daily ticket sale losses were offset by savings in salaries, electricity and fuel -- handy, since the company has debts of €850 million. The strike has the two parties it was presumably designed to hurt -- the city and the transport company -- throwing their poor-but-sexy hats in the air.

But what about ordinary people, people who have to get around Berlin? Hasn't the strike been incredibly disruptive? Well, yes. The air quality and private traffic volume in Berlin has been noticeably worse during the strike. Hisae tells me that some people are making 40 minute walks to her college from the nearest S-Bahn station, which isn't near at all. Small businesses have started suffering too.

Some small businesses, that is. Others -- bike shops, for instance -- are doing their best trade in years. Everybody in this city has at least one bicycle, and over the last fortnight they've been getting their rides refurbished, buying new ones, pumping up tyres and wobbling around the streets. People think nothing of cycling five kilometers to an event, and five kilometers back. On the physical fitness level it's been great. There is a downside, though -- old people who haven't cycled in years are endangering themselves and others by wobbling diagonally across pedestrian crossings. The weather has been windy, wet and dangerous. A Japanese friend of ours was actually hospitalised when her bike was hit by a car. Overall, though, it's been great to see Berlin's already-huge cyclist contingent doubled. I certainly feel fitter.



If the strikers aren't really hurting the city, the company, or the public, they must have the workers and the socialists on their side, though, right? Actually, no. The World Socialist website isn't impressed at all. For them, the strike by public employee union Verdi is all a big conspiracy designed to soften the public up for eventual privatisation of the transport and water systems (Verdi members work in both). The socialists criticize Verdi for making the dispute solely about pay rather than bringing in the issue of privatisation.

"The setting up of a transport subsidiary (Berlin Transport—BT) and the systematic driving down of wages are not aimed at fending off privatisation, but are rather direct preparation for such a measure," says World Socialism. "Verdi is intent on organising the strike in a such a way that it runs out of steam and increasingly encourages a public backlash against the strikers."

What backlash? A Berliner Morgenpost poll showed 57% of Berliners were in sympathy with the walkout. We're far too busy backpedalling to backlash!

There has been one ill-effect, though. An archipelago of mould was spotted on the surface of a glass of red wine in an art gallery on the Invalidenstrasse. I'm not quite sure how the industrial action caused it, but a photograph of the wine was titled "What happens during a transport strike". If the Verdi union bosses think this mould is going to soften us up for a culture of privatisation, though, they're drinking rotting wine from their hands. Theirs is the strike that hurt -- and helped -- no-one.

Comments

are Hisae and you going to view the new Harmony Korine flick?

[(Anonymous)]

i always enjoy reading Mom' cinema reviews...




PS:
sorry for going off topic, but someone mentioned Harm in the post before.. so i was wondering?

Re: are Hisae and you going to view the new Harmony Korine flick?

[imomus.livejournal.com]

While this might be Harmony's breakthrough film commercially -- which will be nice for him -- I have the feeling it's the kind of film people who don't like Harmony Korine films will like. And I'm someone who likes Harmony Korine films, so I probably won't. Do you see what I mean?

A high-concept sentimental romantic comedy is what it looks like. So Julien Donkey-Boy it ain't. Will I see it? Definitely maybe.

Re: are Hisae and you going to view the new Harmony Korine flick?

[fishwithissues.livejournal.com]

you might be right about its commercial potential--it was around-the-block sold-out (badges only!)--at sxsw yesterday.

Re: are Hisae and you going to view the new Harmony Korine flick?

[funazushi.livejournal.com]

After seeing you clip I sent it to my friend Chris Buck who has been working in a similar genre.
Here are a couple of "MJ" photos from his website.

[eclectiktronik.livejournal.com]

Here in Madrid there have been several strikes these alst 2 weeks, including the bus drivers (albeit with 60% minimum services). Other areas of industrial action include the refuse collectors, medical staff in test analysis centres, and the workers of the Wok restaurant chain.

Main demands of the drivers were the right to a half hour break after 6 continuous hours of work, contract issues, and pay, which has suffered since the euro was introduced. ( http://lahaine.org/index.php?p=28276 ) This was responsible for a dramatic drop in living standards for workers in millions of industries whilst the banks made record profits (22% and 24% for two leading banks last year).

The consumers association 'Confederación de Consumidores y Usuarios' (CECU), has found that 55% of the population struggle to make ends meet by the end of the month and that 60% can not save at all.

oh the joys of capitalism.

three strkes and your in

[(Anonymous)]

ive been on strike all my life
suppose am lucky
i like it
fuck work
am going to see will self later
hes just writin about the butt
child abuse
tribe abuse
life abuse
you got any questions for mr self...?
is he very sardonic?
what does sardonic mean?

Re: three strkes and your in

[imomus.livejournal.com]

He's not very sardonic, it's just that when you're tall people think your sincerity is sardonic.

[Error: unknown template video]

ita a friut for sardinia

[(Anonymous)]

apparently when you eat it it causeses laughter
quickly followed by death

[imomus.livejournal.com]

By the way, talking of traffic accidents, transport and so on, take an awareness test (http://www.dothetest.co.uk/). (It also relates to Western / Eastern perceptual habits.)

sorta failed the test, but at least I can count

[merrow-sea.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Mass transit issues are tricky and not as good/bad as we'd like to believe. I'm self employed and so almost never have to stress about being somewhere, getting somewhere under deadlines, across a crowded city. I walk places all the time, but you need time to walk. And you'd need to be an athlete to physically keep up with the time pressures most jobs impose on your life. If we were all 20-somethings with the physical conditioning of a bike messenger, or if societies slowed down, or if more people were self employed... you see where I'm going and I don't have time, heh, to think this through.

The Self video was amusing. I'm packing for a road trip, 2 weeks, no set itinerary, and dreading the standoff to come when I ask my companion to turn off the fucking GPS and let us just be: on the road, in the world, and to maybe even get 'lost' and discover something new.

control

[god-jr.livejournal.com]

an odd strike indeed.
i live in berlin as well and would also say i've seen not much inconvenience caused by the strike (the s-bahn is still not crowded compared to new york standards). during the strike i've noticed more people taking their bikes on the s-bahn ... being half-healthier. you ride the train to a point nearer your final destination and peddle the remaining stretch. i am one of them.
of course it's pretty expensive to ride with a bike on the subway (you have to buy a ticket for your bike as well) but my thought was that it would be pretty nervy of the s-bahn to keep the controllers (the people who periodically appear on the trains to make sure people have bought tickets) working during the strike. i mean you pay the same amount for a ticket and get only half the ride. SO ... i haven't been buying tickets
and what do you know, they did have controllers!
i was so surprised that instead of trying to act like i lost my ticket or making some angry speech about the inconvenience of the strike i just numbly said, i don't have a ticket. then he asked for my ID and again i had to answer truthfully that i wasn't carrying any. the whole time i was staring at him like i couldn't believe he even existed, which must have worked a spell.
he shrugged and moved on and i wasn't ticketed, fined, or even asked to step out of the train.

Re: control

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Wow, cool, I wish that worked for me! I live in terror of those inspectors

Re: control

[kumakouji.livejournal.com]

It kinda reminds me of the way so-called "bendy-buses" work here in London.

Instead of having only an entrance at the front, bendy-buses have an extra entrance in the middle. Because there are hardly any ticket inspectors to enforce payment, people just hop on and dont pay. What can the bus driver do about it? Some people have even started to refer to them as "the free bus"; it's been in the news semi-regularly here.

I could have told you that would happen. I think the problem might be that all the people coming up with these public transport solutions probably dont use public transport on a regular basis because they get paid high wages and they can all afford cars, therefore they're completely out of touch which what actual commuters need and how they'll act.

Bendy buses

[kineticfactory.livejournal.com]

Another aspect of London's bendy buses is that they're inevitably packed like sardine cans at all hours of the day. Whether you catch one at 8:30am, 3pm or 11pm, your odds of getting a seat on one are slim.

Granted, it could be that the design (compared to double-deckers) is less space-efficient, though chances are that high rates of fare evasion aren't helping either.

Re: control

[lame-no-antenna.livejournal.com]

where i live there was a city-wide civic strike last year (no trash/recycling collection, parks & rec, public works, public libraries, city hall, land development & planning, etc.)

but parking meter monies were still being collected!

it's always that bottom line hey?

Re: control

[cap-scaleman.livejournal.com]

There is no mobile phone ticket service? Here around Stockholm the busdrivers are not giving any tickets. You buy from an automat or get an SMS to your mobile phone for a fee. With the SMS thingie you can always make it look new again and again. Some do that I suppose.

Re: control

[(Anonymous)]

I do the bike/U-Bahn combination all the time and nothing beats the speed of that.
You were just lucky the inspectors couldn't be bothered to hassle you, that was a one-in-a-million. They could have wasted a lot of your time. Been there.

"of course it's pretty expensive to ride with a bike on the subway (you have to buy a ticket for your bike as well)"
Jfyi, a 30-day-ticket for a bike is 8 euros. Not *that* expensive, really.

[microworlds.livejournal.com]

Why did you insert pictures of the train system for North Korea?

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Just to illustrate the idea that "a working citywide public transport system is a wonderful thing. But, weirdly enough, a non-working citywide public transport system can be beautiful too." Because Pyongyang has a beautiful -- and non-working -- subway system. It's populated by actors.

[kumakouji.livejournal.com]

"Pyongyang has a beautiful -- and non-working -- subway system. It's populated by actors"

OH THE JOYS OF COMMUNISM

non-working -- subway system

[pay-option07.livejournal.com]

Fares here creep up to $2.75 from $2.50 per hop, monthly pass $99.75 up from $98.75 as of April 1st. We have had a few labor disputes but they have been short. However the violence towards drivers has tripled.

Lightening Strikes( not once but twice)

[funazushi.livejournal.com]

I used to work for the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) shunting streetcars and buses as a summer student. No disrespect to my transit union brethren in other cities, but this was the easiest and highest paying part time job I have ever had. As a part timer we were repeatedly told to slow down and leave work for tomorrow by our full time coworkers. On the night shift, mechanics would dismantle the seats to make beds, allowing for about five hours sleep on an eight hour shift. The supervisors would knock on the doors to wake you up in the morning. Other times we students managed to keep ourselves busy by learning other languages, making beer, knitting, and reading Finnegans Wake.

Our transit system now is in decay, since the government stopped regular funding and the TTC operates on money it takes in from the fare box.

I don't think privatization serves the public interest in our case. A lot of infrastructure that needs to be built to serve the Greater Toronto Area would be too expensive for a company trying to turn a profit. I do believe that in our case and perhaps in Berlin that the unions need to be reigned in. If I remember correctly the only thing you could be fired for is by being caught stealing. If you totaled a bus while being drunk, you could expect to be at work the next day.

Re: thrice)////a million miles of crud

[(Anonymous)]

i think the less comments you get the better life is for the ordinary folks/.. because you can say much more buy not so many words..
too many words an all things get dull. jist stick to the point ....people are many and inspiration is rare..i am thinking what would i do without you where would
i bee...id be lost momus i lov you so
i fear youve had enuff of this blogging shite
please perform like moondog become a ghost
facism is within all the hebrew zionist
we all talk of adolf and forget we are him he won our dadaies fought for nothing the world is much worst then we could ever imagine ,,i wish yoko was in control then we could open your box open open open

information from moscow radio and the singing of somebody from peru

[count-vronsky.livejournal.com]

^^Tosser, I think your mom is sneaking in to your room again and using your computer. You might want to change your password. And here is that Link (http://www.step12.com/texas.html) you were looking for.

Re: Lightening Strikes( not once but twice)

[geebengrrl.livejournal.com]

Here in Sydney, instead of going on strike, the bus drivers refuse to collect the fares. So the public love them (because we get to ride for free) and the government loses more money the longer the strike goes on.