Wow.
Just wow!

It's been a very long, very hot summer.

And it's been a hard one on Drivers this year.

The heat has driven passengers crazy and driven some of the extreme elements of our workforce to show their true colours.
I've never been subject to as much hatred and racism and discrimination as I have this year alone and every bit of it from "union" employees here at RTD.

Sadly, there's not a whole lot RTD can do about it.
We had a survey recently but that's cosmetic.
The bad element gets to keep their jobs, protected by the union and encouraged some might even venture to say.
Leaving RTD with black eyes thanks to union values (or lack thereof!)

And this leads us to a huge fight coming shortly.

Douglas County's fight with the teacher's union is still going on:

( http://www.9news.com/news/local/article/287430/222/DougCo-School-Board-cuts-ties-with-union )

The union scared to death of allowing the public to vote on the union's life.
Knowing that the public has no sympathy for unions - as evidenced in Wisconsin this year.

So of course they did the liberal spin and dance like we hear o'bummer doing during his campaign, telling us that a public vote against the union would be a waste of tax payer's dollar while hoping that we forget the fact that unions are also a waste of tax payer's dollars!

Which will lead us into the "contract negotiations" coming up soon with the union & RTD.
I used quotes because they really aren't negotiations but extortion of the tax payer by the union.

They'll threaten every body's livelihood, every body's jobs, family and education just to keep their pockets lined with your hard earned tax dollars.
They'll sit home, eating pork rinds - on strike - while you're cut off from work, school, doctors and family, all so that they can continue to extort more and more benefits that even the tax payer can't afford for themselves, let alone the union thugs who do nothing but collect tax dollars to collect more tax dollars.

Blah!
I've been keeping a low profile - you've noticed the lack of posts this summer.
Too much anger, hatred, and negative attention lately and almost every last one of these are union employees - not RTD employees.
In my mind - my professional opinion - there is a huge difference between those of us who work FOR RTD and are forced to join the union and the others who work for the union here at RTD.



I have tons of stories from the summer, and tons of news but it's still too hot.
Every body's too grumpy.
Folks are driving like mad people and I'm too nervous to pull my attention from the road at the moment.

I miss y'all.
I'm still here and I'll be back more frequently - shortly.

AND...
I'm gonna be as good a source of information when the union strikes.
I want to make sure I stab them in the back as many times as I can, giving you as much knowledge to fight them as we can.
Exposing their lies and secrets and their greed.

LOL - oh, have I told you I'm not a fan of the union?
Just in case you couldn't tell!

As Always, "Welcome aboard, Find your seats, Enjoy the AC - Let's Roll!"

You Gotta Fight, For Your Right.....

To Be Union Free!!!

Ok, a little poetic license applied there.

By now we've all heard about the brouhaha in Wisconsin.
In a very democratic, union friendly state a conservative and anti-union Gov. Scott Walker is elected and tasked to trim back the public unions.
After he does what he's asked to do, the extreme left throws a recall election at him and in an overwhelming turn, he survives as do his actions against the unions.
While that sounds boring, keep in mind that he and his agenda not only survive but are supported and approved by a very liberal state, by a democratically controlled Senate and Congress in that state.

Good stuff right?
Gives us all hope.

Now to Colorado.
Some of y'all may have heard that Douglas County school district is in "negotiations" with the Douglas County Federation of Teachers (a union).
Three of the bigger issues are:
1) The School District collects union fees/dues - they no longer want to be the go between.
2) The School District no longer wants to pay union employees who leave the classroom to do union work.
3) There are Union Representatives who are also School District administrators. The School District (as well as many teachers) say this is an extreme conflict of interest, as during negotiations and strikes, these employees sit on both sides of the table, compromising their respective positions.

The Union has given in on these issues.

And now it's time to look at the union that controls RTD.

The Union (ATU 1001) is going to be in negotiations with RTD for a new contract by the first quarter of 2013.
And these same three points that Douglas County just hit on are also in place here at RTD.

RTD collects the (I call them extortion fees) dues for the union.
RTD should have nothing to do with this.
If workers had to pay the fees/dues from their "after tax" income, out of their pockets rather than pre-tax & before they even receive their pay checks, they'd be far more upset and bucking the system.

I found this quote:

"Ending the payroll withholding of dues has resulted in large drops in union membership in other locations."

Go figure!

Also, we have union employees (reps) who are also RTD employees and they are paid by RTD to work at the Union, away from work.
Most of these union reps are known for the brand new vehicles and homes they purchase during and after their terms in office.

I'm betting money that we are going to see some attempt at a strike next year.
The myriad of Drivers and Mechanics (all the same union) with whom I've spoken have all said they are crossing strike lines.
Nobody can afford time off, nobody wants to tick off the tax payer/voter/passengers.
And folks just can't seem to see the benefit of supporting a group of union reps who gave themselves raises when the tax payer couldn't afford it, when nobody at RTD got raises and funded by the union employees from our pay checks!

I'm sure there will be some who strike but you'll see most of us right back here at work.
And when they do strike, you'll still see Veolia & First Transit working their routes and filling in those routes RTD can't run because of the strike.
But you'll still see the majority of RTD Drivers & employees on the job.
We know how to beat the strike without suffering financial penalty and hard ship.

Keep an eye on Douglas County's School District negotiations and look for RTD's negotiations with ATU later this year and early next.

Call RTD and tell them you support them and you can't afford to pay these entitlement minded unionists the huge sums and benefits they feel that you owe them!
And call ATU and tell them to give it up or get busted (and kicked out of RTD) that you don't support their entitlement mindset - you don't owe them anything.

As Always, "Welcome aboard, Find your seats, Tell the unions to take a hike - Let's Roll!"