Originally Posted by
Antipode
I think the information missing here is that the vast majority of these people are engineers and other highly-skilled laborers who could make more working comparable jobs in private industry.
Not saying that it's still not a lot of money, but these aren't your run-of-the-mill train operators and station agents that are easy to replace.
Actually, not for this union (it's one of three BART unions). The members are mostly station agents and train operators, both jobs only requiring high school diplomas (per bart website). Neither requires much skill as the train rides themselves are highly automated. Station agents mostly given directions and assist with demagnitized tickets, operators mostly provide station announcements and watch the door closings to ensure nobody gets stuck.
The real issue here wasn't as much salary but overtime. The unions have ridiculous work rules which keep payrolls inflated and rampant overtime. And come on - $100k on a non-college education for a low stress, low physical, low wattage job with huge benefits and lifetime job security is pretty sweet.