Raises in a time of recession

It was a busy October, and nothing has really caught my attention quite like the current SEPTA strike, which has left all city buses, trolleys and subways inactive. Fortunately for me, I either ride my bike or walk pretty much everywhere, and have a car for when I need to travel longer distances. But for anyone within the city itself, sans car or bike (i.e. the elderly, students, many young professionals), you're pretty much out of luck. This is shocking to me on multiple levels. First, after visiting New York City this weekend, I can't help but think that something like this would NEVER happen there, or in most major cities. Not in a million years. It is unfathomable that an entire public transportation system could shut down in the middle of the night, with hardly any warning.

But more unfathomable are the circumstances surrounding WHY services are being shut down. According to several reports, the average SEPTA salary after four years is about $52,000. Maybe I don't know about all of the qualifications that go into becoming a SEPTA employee, but I'm pretty sure that there aren't a whole lot. So, these workers are making about $4,333 per month, I assume pre-tax. That's nearly $25 per hour, and they turned down an 11% salary increase. I am sure that each position has its ups and downs and drivers would say that they have the toughest jobs, dealing with riders, and mechanics would say that theirs are the hardest, doing more manual labor. But come on. I just did the math and see that I make less than $12 per hour as a graduate student, working at least 40 hours per week, no over-time, and I will never have the opportunity to make more than that. There is no union and there are no raises. The federal government said, "This is how much money we will give to your university for student stipends, and you will allocate it accordingly." Period. There is no strike, you just learn to live within your means.

You could say that maybe I should get a better-paying job. Heck, work for SEPTA, as I would currently make more money. But the real issue here is that people are unwilling to accept the fact that we are in a recession. With NYTimes headlines stating that Ford just cited huge quarterly earnings, it's not surprising. People think that they're making money again. But call your credit card company. Interest rates are still high, it's impossible to get once-standard fee reversals, investments are still floundering. How could people possibly think that it's time to ask for a raise? And if SEPTA has the money, if definitely shouldn't be going to its workers.