>On Fri, 17 Dec 2004, Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> > Years ago, I heard Ernest Mandel suggest that instead of going on
> > strike, transit workers should just let the public ride for free -
> > they'd win allies among the masses rather than making enemies. It
> > seemed like such a good idea I wonder why it hasn't been tried.
This would call for a very uneven sacrifice on the part of the transit workers. Most people in transit have nothing to do with collecting fares so that small group would be singled out for disciplinary action and for everyone else it would be basically a riskless venture. If I was an Engineer I'd love the idea. If I worked collecting tolls I'd be tremendously unlikely to take that risk. It is asking for a greater sacrifice from the people at the bottom of the transit authority hierarchy.
John Thornton