Philly Transit Strike: Worry or not?

[WillyBrandt]

Am I crazy, or is this transit strike the last thing we need?

I'm removed from the details but from this distance it looks like SEPTA and the Transit Union are playing a grisly game of chicken, except with the rest of the country stuck unwillingly in the back seat.

I don't know who is "right" or "reasonable" here -- my instincts are typically on the union side, but they're not always perfect. At some level, I don't care who is right -- no offense, but we have bigger fish to fry, so I hope SEPTA caves, the union gets 80% of what they want, leaving a little on the table so SEPTA saves face, and we're done and can move on to beat Trump.

My only worry is that SEPTA and the Union are so caught up in their own fight they have lost sight of the bigger picture, giving us a useless risk that we really don't need.

Philly residents -- thoughts? Is this much less a big deal than I'm worried about? Will this get solved before Tuesday?

(Yes, I know worrying is useless. But I'm in the worrywart DU caucus...)

[kstewart33]

4. Please, no more downer threads.

We don't know and it is a waste of psychological energy to even think about it.

We all need to stay positive and resist our Democrat-DNA tendencies to worry, worry, worry.

[WillyBrandt]

7. Fair enough. I feel like a rat in a cage hitting the pellet bar.

[radius777]

11. It's not 'being negative' to highlight an issue that could suppress votes.

Dems need to get on this ASAP, and it looks like Dem SuperPac has offered free Uber/Lyft rides.

Still, I don't like anything that causes chaos on election day.

The heart of the modern Dem party are metro areas, i.e. cities and their surrounding suburbs, which Dems depend heavily for most of their vote, especially in a swing state like PA, that is otherwise whiter/older/conservative.

Hopefully influential Dems can make a few phonecalls and get this worked out.

[WillyBrandt]

12. OK, so I'm not crazy! This is when you want a ruthless LBJ type

To bang heads together and bully and threaten and end this stupid bullshit.

[BumRushDaShow]

13. The head of the city Democratic Party (Congressman Bob Brady)

has been involved from day one with both sides.

See 13:32 on Tweety's feed for Brady's effort in getting the turnout up -

[Travis_0004]

5. If they cared about democracy, they would end the strike for election day.

[WillyBrandt]

10. It's pretty hardball (and shortsighted) on both sides, as far as I can tell

The fact that it's election day isn't a bug, it's a feature. I mean, it's ridiculous that this could have such an outsized impact.

The strike is a good argument for early voting, however...

[Amishman]

15. don't worry, same thing happened in 2009, and turnout was up

in 2009 SEPTA was on strike during an off year election, and turnout was actually above average. Nothing interesting about the races that year either.

People live near the polls, particularly in cities. Mass transit is a nice to have for going to vote, not essential.