League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	San Francisco County, CA November 2, 2010 Election
	Proposition G Transit Operator Wages County of San Francisco Charter Amendment - Majority Approval Required Pass: 164234 / 64.94% Yes votes ...... 88671 / 35.06% No votes See Also: Index of all Propositions

Arguments For Proposition G

Arguments Against Proposition G

MUNI is a critical part of San Francisco's infrastructure. San Franciscans depend on Muni for transportation to work, doctor appointments, school, and recreation. Unfortunately, route cuts and decreased service have made Muni inefficient and unreliable. Real Muni reform is needed to improve service and increase reliability. PROP G WILL IMPROVE MUNI SERVICE Prop G will allow the MTA to allocate limited resources to services for riders rather than automatic, annual raises for drivers. Currently, the Charter guarantees Muni drivers the second highest salary in the country. This year, Muni drivers received a $9 million raise while the MTA balanced a $50 million deficit on the backs of riders. All other city workers offered concessions to help balance the City budget, but Muni drivers refused. The result was reduced services and increased fares for Muni riders. Prop G will eliminate the salary guarantee, so that drivers' salaries do not automatically increase. Prop G will allow drivers to negotiate salaries through collective bargaining + just like all other city employees. PROP G WILL MAKE MUNI MORE RELIABLE Prop G will allow the MTA to negotiate new work rules, so that service is more reliable and more responsive to riders' needs. Current work rules restrict the ability of the MTA to schedule, deploy, and assign Muni drivers. Proposition G would "press the reset button" on existing work rules, which create inefficient and unreliable service for riders. For example, Muni operators are allowed to be absent without notice, missing runs and contributing to poor service. The MTA should operate based on best practices, not past practices. PROP G IS REAL REFORM San Francisco is a world class City that deserves a world class transit agency. Join Me in Voting YES on Prop G. Supervisor Sean Elsbernd http://www.fixmuninow.com Rebuttal to Arguments For If Prop G Wins... Riders Lose! Prop G doesn't fix MUNI now... or later. Nothing in this ballot proposal will restore service cuts, improve on-time performance, or make MUNI busses cleaner. The issues that matter to MUNI riders are NOT covered by this proposal. Prop G is confusing, costly and will lead to serious labor problems. Muni has a record of more than a quarter century without a major labor dispute. Unlike most other transit systems, including BART and AC Transit, MUNI has enjoyed labor peace. If Prop G passes, labor issues will regularly be in dispute or arbitration. That means uncertainty and instability -- the last thing we need for a critical service like MUNI. What does Proposition G accomplish? Good question -- Prop G's supporters, big business interests and career politicians, have never answered it. What is clear, Prop G seeks to punish MUNI's frontline workers by making wages and other labor issues subject to dispute rather than the current formula that has served MUNI well for 40 years. Prop G also will do nothing to restore the $62 million in MUNI funds siphoned by other city departments this year on top of $60 million in state cuts to MUNI in each of the last three years. Vote NO on G. MUNI is our public transportation system -- what MUNI needs is accountability starting at the top, not attacks on its workforce Transport Workers Local 250 + A

PROP G TARGETS WORKERS INSTEAD OF WASTE + VOTE NO ON G For more than 40 years, Muni driver salaries have been determined by a formula that has made San Francisco one of the only cities in America not to experience a transit strike during that time, and a model for worker-management relations in transit. Currently, salaries for transit operators are set by a formula approved by voters instead of leaving union contracts up to politicians to cut backroom deals. The principle of workers and City Hall bargaining across a table to find resolution has worked well for our City for decades. Proposition G destroys that collaboration by changing a structure that has been in the charter for 40 years. While our Muni system has its problems, Proposition G unfairly targets drivers as the only problem at the multi-million-dollar agency that runs our transit system. Like Muni riders, drivers tolerate a system that has been neglected for decades. Drivers work hard to improve the system and get San Franciscans where they're going on time, but City Hall has consistently cut funds for transit while raising salaries for Muni executives. As budget deficits forced 10% service cuts this year, the head of the agency took home a paycheck of more than $300,000. Proposition G does nothing to address the bloated bureaucracy that has siphoned funding from our bus and rail system for decades, it unfairly targets drivers and changes a voter-approved process that has worked for decades. Muni drivers share riders' frustration and we are committed to improving the system for all San Francisans that rely on it to get to school and work every day. Propostion G unfairly targets drivers while neglecting the real challenges facing Muni. PLEASE VOTE NO ON G Transport Workers Union Local 250-A Rebuttal to Arguments Against Muni needs this change. There are many things that need fixing at Muni, but we can no longer avoid the central issue of workplace culture. Imagine trying to run a transit agency when you don't know who will show up to work each day. Imagine trying to provide rush-hour service when you can't hire extra drivers to cover the busiest shifts. Everyone wants drivers to be paid well, and they will continue to be paid well after this reform. But we need to change the work rules. There is no reason that bus drivers, unlike the rest of organized labor, should not bargain for pay, benefits, and working conditions. This is a modest, common-sense reform that will help improve the workplace culture and management of Muni. It will save tens of millions of dollars each year that can be put back into improved service. FIX MUNI NOW --VOTE YES ON G San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) http://www.spur.org