SEPTA and TWU 234: No Deal, And Still No Sttike

UPDATE: SEPTA and TWU 234 went past the midnight deadline and continued talking through the night. No strike has been called by Willie Brown, the President of the TWU 234. Talks will continue until 6PM tonight, but a strike can be called at any time.

So, my opinion?

I think its safe to say the call for a strike was, more or less, a bluff, which makes perfect sense considering the fact that Willie Brown has a history of, well, being a fucking drama queen. Did you pick up a copy of this weekend's Philadelphia Metro? There's a giant PAID ad on the back of the newspaper where they try to convince the public that "we don't want to strike, but we have to." Then you have the ad before it that was, in essence, race-baiting. The strike vote and and date set for the strike were all ploys in order to get what he wanted.

People like Willie Brown are smart, but in the end, their assholes. He may have read up on Sun Zsu, but he never read The 48 Laws of Power. Simply put, you never destroy your public reputation in order to get what you want.

At the same time, it goes back to the entire fact I brought up, namely that Philadelphia Sports Fans aren't exactly going to be happy. If a strike is called for during the World Series, or if it happens just as people are going to the stadiums, I can say, without a doubt, without a moment of hesitation, that there will be fighting and there will be blood as angry fans are met with closed gates and no buses. Neither side will want the blame.

It's worth pointing out that this is, in essence,t he only thing I've written about all week. Check out the older stories on this issue.

=-=-====-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

It's 12:34AM and the Union is still talking with SEPTA with a State mediator. No indicator talks have stopped, none of a strike as well. Some progress is being made.