Muni Employee Quote of the Month
Photo by engnr_chik
Muni rider Jessica sends in this report from Cole Valley:
I was eager to jump on my daily N Judah this morning after 4 days away in the east coast snow. As I’m riding along, we pull up to the Carl and Cole stop and the driver yells something to Neon-Vest-Muni-Guy-On-Sidewalk. Neon walks up to the door shaking his head and says “It’s not your fault man. It’s Muni. We are a sinking ship!”
Wait a minute. This guy works for muni and is calling out his own employer- in front of a bus full of people! At least they acknowledge the downward spiral. They say you have to hit rock bottom before it gets better, but how much farther is the bottom? I hope for our sake and Muni’s that this boat stays afloat because I have to get to work! Think positive Muni, the sun will come out tomorrow.
We all get to gripe about work a little, especially when you’re feeling disgruntled. Too bad this MTA employee was overheard by a diligent Muni Diaries reader. We can’t help but wonder if the exchange was sparked by the Muni operators and their union’s rejection of the concession proposal to help MTA balance its spiraling deficit. In any event, I’m with you, Jessica, on the Muni-please-stay-afloat thing.
I had a moment like this earlier this week, after the latest epic fail on the L Taraval: I was walking up Taraval from Sunset, passing stalled empty train after stalled empty train, and when I got to the last one, I saw a MUNI driver standing outside it, just chilling. I raised my palms and shrugged my shoulders in the universal “What the hell, dude?” signal, and he shook his head and said “Yeah, I feel the same way.”
The guy was probably just having a bad day at work. Just like the day before, and the day before that…
Muni would not be a sinking ship if labor would agree to more cost cutting.
To me, this was less a gripe about work, and more a sentiment speaking to company morale. It’s how the employee feels about his employer, not so much how he feels about his work. Perhaps it’s a one-off; whatever the case, I think it speaks volumes for the current situation surrounding our public transit here in SF.