I mentioned my strike breaking idea to someone, and it was brought to my attention that many of the transit workers are on strike against their will.  And they're being fined daily for it.  They were forced to go on strike because otherwise they'd be kicked out of their union and never be allowed to work as a transit worker again.  That's a shame.  Seriously.  But if I were in a powerful position (which I'm not), I would get rid of that entire union and hire back everyone who actually wanted to do some work, starting with the people who were originally in the union. 

I realize that many people in unions don't really want to be a part of their union, but were forced to join as a requirement for the job.  That's the case with my mom (now retired).  She was a secretary at my high school and was forced to be a part of the evil teacher's union.  I understand why unions exist and I realize that they can promote some amount of good.  But she received little to no benefit from being a part of the teacher's union.  She worked more hours.  She worked summers.  She worked winter breaks, spring breaks, and teacher convention holidays.  But she was still forced to fork over some of her hard-earned cash to some big, litigious body that didn't care about her. 

I was listening to the radio this morning, and I found my new hero.  In 1981, President Ronald Reagan gave a 48-hour warning to the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, which was on strike because they wanted more money for doing less work.  After the 48 hours, he fired all 11,359 of them and replaced them with people who wanted to work.  That's awesome.  It just goes to show that it's a relatively feasible thing to do.  However, it was only feasible because the replacements were some of the people who weren't on strike and also some military personnel.  Hiring 33,000 new transit workers might be a bit difficult. 

So in conclusion, I feel bad for the transit workers who don't want to be on strike.  It sucks for them.  But I don't feel bad for the people who want to make more money for doing less work.  I hope that the people who deserve a raise will get a raise, and the rest of the people will be replaced by people who are willing to work. #business