Occupy RTD/Transit

From some random bus Driver to you, the passenger:

If you travel through The Civic Centre Station in Denver, reroute your trips/buses tomorrow or simply take the day off.

That's coming from me, somebody who doesn't want my riders, my customers, my passengers harassed by liberal entitleists who want more of your tax dollars to support their lifestyles.
That's not coming from RTD - remember that this is my personal blog, my personal thoughts and ideas and that RTD neither supports nor endorses my blog.

Seriously.
Don't go to the Civic Centre Station.
It's going to be occupied by teacher's unions, police and fire fighter's unions, every union in the city/state that the ATU (bus driver's union) can get to support them.
All in their orange shirts that will read something about the 99% and occupy...

Recently, the Liberal Senate has tried to increase spending (more of your tax dollars) on transportation and removed the caps that can be spent on wages/salaries.
Of course the Conservative Congress has offered their own version of The Bill that restricts how much unions can make/profit from the tax payer's dollar and budgets even more on transportation, including roads, bridges and buses/trains.

But of course the Senate squashed the Congressional Bill and Congress returned the favour when the Senate Bill reached them.

There's been a 90 day extension but none of this effects YOU.

RTD is funded by tax dollars, whether local, State or Federal.
Close to $1 in $5 of the budget comes from fares, those who ride and actually pay for their rides.

RTD has made cuts that keeps the service running for at least 6 more years, in the black.

Whatever the Congress & Senate do with their budgets really only affect the profits that the unions make.

Yes I am an RTD Driver, and that means I'm a union member.
But if Colorado gave us the freedom of choice to join the union while employed at RTD, the union would have almost ZERO membership - nobody wants them!

Anywho, you're going to see some orange shirted unionists, entitlement minded folks who think you, the tax payer should support them, the "99%."
They are going to be handing out leaflets, fliers and accosting and harassing RTD customers all day.

As a Driver, I notice that when the Occupy Denver nutters march through town, fill up the streets and down the 16th Street Mall, that the majority of folks, pedestrians make the choice to go some place else.
I recommend y'all make that same choice tomorrow, April 4th.

They are coming, the Occupy RTD/Transit entitleists.
Watch out!

As Always, "Welcome aboard, Screw Occupy, Find your seats - Let's Roll!"

Occupy RTD!?

Seriously?
Occupy RTD?

Oh yeah, that's what we're being told to do during the first week of April by the union.
The Union is calling on us (those it forces to join unions) whether teachers, drivers, police and firefighters, to go to the Civic Centre and hand out fliers to "the 99% who need transit!"

"Acknowledging their mutual concern about the crisis in mass transit, the General Executive Board of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) has endorsed the National Day of Action for Public Transportation called by Occupy Boston to take place..."

There is no crisis, there is only a lack of funds for them to extort from you - the tax payer and rider/customer.

This is typical liberal entitleism.

I've mentioned this before and just recently I've pointed out how the union corrupts and inhibits RTD.
Many of the Drivers don't have the mindset that they are employed by RTD, they feel that their employer is the union.
The union provides their income, their benefits and time off.
RTD to them?
Just a means to their own personal gain.

I'm an RTD employee (but remember, these are my personal opinions which are neither endorsed nor supported by my employer!) and I feel that I must earn everything my employer gives me from a wage to a benefit.
I must serve YOU, the customer of RTD.
Neither you nor my employer OWE me anything, I need to earn it.

But the unionist has a different mindset.
I've had many conversations with these unionists who work at RTD.
They feel that you (called fat cats by these guys) need to be forced to pay higher fares, higher taxes and their higher wages. You owe them a social life, dating, marriage, mortgages and new vehicles.
It's only fair - at least in their minds.
You owe them weeks and weeks worth of sick, vacation, holiday and personal days off each year.
The average Coloradoan hasn't had a wage increase in a couple of years, we are still at close to 8% (14% actual) unemployment and because of a few liberal Govs we have a broken TABOR that's causing us to go into debt.
But that doesn't concern the unionist. The union leaders gave themselves a big raise last year.
The only reason they skipped strikes this year is because of the growing unrest and unpopularity of public unions across the nation.
And because RTD had to make HUGE cutbacks in order to stay out of debt.
But look out next year, these greedy entitleists are out for blood (your money) and they are going to go to great lengths next year to get it.

Everybody in this nation and state who pays taxes, whether a state or federal income tax and all those in the state who purchase something from companies within the district, we all pay for those few who ride the bus/train.
And the large portion of those who don't actually pay a fare are fully supported by us (and the few who pay fares.)
Less than 20% of the operating cost of RTD comes from fares.
The rest is from the tax payer, whether through govt grants & taxes.
I think there is a 1% of income from advertisers.

That said, the entitleist/unionist identifies with the occupy movements and now they want to occupy transit and RTD.
Look out for them in the next couple of weeks and tell them how you really feel.
Tell them that you don't owe them a lifestyle.
Tell them that the system should be user supported, not the rest of us paying for the 1% who use it.

Tell them to go get a job to support their lifestyles, just like we told the occupiers here in Denver to go get a job and get a life.
These 1% don't represent us, the average Coloradoan - we all know it but these unionists/occupiers don't seem to realize it.

And keep in mind that there is a large portion of your Drivers (I personally believe it's far more than half of us) don't agree with these guys either.
We're not happy being forced to join this entitlement minded union.
We love RTD and we earn our keep, we earn your business and we love the customer.
We don't see you, the customer as a fat cat who owes us your wallets.
And we don't see RTD as a means to get to you.

We don't support this occupy RTD movement and neither should you.

As Always, "Welcome aboard, Screw Occupy, Find your seats - Let's Roll!"