Transit strike in Philly could lower turnout among black and low income voters
If the strike isn't settled tomorrow, they should suspend the strike on election day.
If they don't, and a PA loss turns the election, they'll just be hurting themselves. Unionized workers won't do better under a GOP administration controlling both branches of Congress.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-striking-transit-union-fights-injunction-request-43314639
On Thursday, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority asked for assurances from the city's striking transit union that it will suspend its walkout on Election Day if no contract agreement is reached by then.
The agency says it will go to court to try to force transit employees to work on Nov. 8.
The head of the Transport Workers Union local says SEPTA should focus instead on reaching a settlement.
The union's 4,700 workers walked off the job after midnight Monday, shutting down transit service that provides about 900,000 rides a day.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-transit-strike-in-philly-could-lower-turnout-among-black-and-poor-voters/
While commentators digest the latest announcement from FBI Director James Comey, a story with the potential to have more of an impact on the election is playing out with little notice in Philadelphia. Last Tuesday workers for the city division of the regional transportation authority, SEPTA, began a strike over a new contract. The strike has shut down the city’s buses, subways and trolleys, and snarled the city’s roads since then.
Last Friday, a Philadelphia judge declined to issue an injunction ending or suspending the strike, but she scheduled a hearing for 9:30 a.m. Monday to take up the strike’s potential impact on the election. The evidence on the effects of prior transit strikes is limited, but given what we know about Election Day in Philadelphia, the people who rely on the city’s public transit network, and about voting in general, the potential impact on residents’ ability to vote could be substantial. And that impact is likely to be concentrated on residents of color, as well as on Philadelphia’s poorer residents.
The nation’s fifth-largest city, Philadelphia is the largest city in any swing state. There is also no city as populous as Philadelphia with a larger share of residents in poverty. It is not surprising, then, that Philadelphia relies heavily on its public transit network. As it is elsewhere, that reliance is particularly heavy in poorer communities and communities of color. Below, for instance, data from the 2014 American Community Survey shows the relationship between the share of census tract residents who are black and who ride public transit to work in Philadelphia. The relationship is substantial: If we go from a census tract with no black residents to one that is entirely black, we should expect the share of people using public transit to get to work to rise by 27 percentage points.
SNIP
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