Stuck on Campus

The Santa Cruz Metro Bus drivers union has been on strike since Sep. 29th and there does not seem to be any light in the tunnel for those of us stuck up on the hill at UCSC. Yesterday the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that the city was giving away 350 bikes to any SC county resident that needed transportation of some sort. Today apparently is the first time that city officials are going to be with each other (not with the union) to figure out how to resolve this strike. The College Republicans of UCSC are holding a protest against the unions demands today at the Metro Center starting at 2:00pm.

Usually I do not believe I would agree with the "College Republicans" however all the information I have been able to get makes me think that these damn bus drivers are screwing us over. They are one of the top 4 paid bus drivers in the country, and some of the highest paid drivers make just over 74,000 dollars a year. I think that is a lot of friggn' money for a job that is not extremely high skill. At UC Davis students are allowed to get jobs as city bus drivers because the UC owns the whole bus system. I don't think those students are getting paid that much and they get the job done. Even if the cost of living in SC is high these bus drivers could at least come back to work and then try to make a deal later. Its not like they are going to have to burn their dinner tables to keep their houses warm this winter (well maybe they will with the price of heating oil, gas about to sky rocket).

For any student at UCSC there is also a financial problem. We already paid for the bus service in our tuision and now there is nothing. The University is also making hell of money on parking permits and tickets, while at the same time keeping the money they would be paying to the bus system. In the end I guess it is the students and poor people getting screwed again. But at least if there was a hurricane I am on high ground stuck up here on campus.