When the union label may be terrifying: transit edition

I don't favor union bashing--my problem with unions is the same problem I have with any large organization, the problem that Robert Michels describes in the classic text in political science, Political Parties, which argues (according to Wikipedia) that:

all forms of organization, regardless of how democratic or autocratic they may be at the start, will eventually and inevitably develop into oligarchies. The reasons for this are the technical indispensability of leadership, the tendency of the leaders to organize themselves and to consolidate their interests; the gratitude of the led towards the leaders, and the general immobility and passivity of the masses.

What this means mostly is that the organization becomes internally and self-focused. In the case of organizations like transit systems, it sets up a management vs. labor dialectic that boxes out the riders, the customers of the service.

While I don't know the details of the decisions--riders aren't "parties" we don't have standing concerning personnel matters--I find it very troubling that WMATA has to rehire two bus drivers it fired. See "Bus drivers fired for misconduct return to Metro" from the Examiner.

I can understand the decision, maybe, with regard to the bus driver in the accident that killed someone. Maybe it wasn't his fault--even though the investigation said it likely was. I didn't read the accident report, maybe there are mitigating circumstances. But I can't see any justification for rehiring a bus driver who got out of his bus, assaulted someone -- "because I thought it was funny" -- and then continued on his merry way.

I don't see how such behavior should be supported by the transit workers union or an arbitrator.

Aren't bus drivers really working for the riders?

Who wants someone like that driving me around?

From the article:

"Neither of these incidents should have ever happened," Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said. The agency stands behind its decisions to fire the drivers, but Farbstein said Metro does not believe it has legal grounds to overturn the arbitrators' rulings.

Still, the agency and the union are at odds over whether the driver involved in the deadly wreck should be allowed to return behind the wheel. The union is fighting for him to get his job back, as specified in the binding arbitration ruling.

"The decision was very definitive," said Jackie Jeter, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689. "The authority does not have authority to do whatever they want to do."

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That being said, I think that the job of being a bus driver is one of the hardest jobs out there. I wouldn't be good at it. The driver has to deal with riders who can be a problem, as well as a lot of traffic, and the need to move in and out of traffic constantly.

Constant training is necessary sure. But so is constant vigilance. People who are a threat to others shouldn't have the job.