I received a strange email today from the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA), which is headed by Nativo Lopez. You have to read this one for yourself:
Greetings!
SUPPORT FOR THE OCTA DRIVERS STRIKE
for more info 714-608-4835
Saludos brothers and sisters,
The Teamsters are asking for our support to tell the OCTA to end the strike and give to the workers what they deserve.
We need your support and we need it NOW!! WHEN TOMORROW THURSDAY JULY 12, 2007.
WHERE: OCTA OFFICE 550 N. MAIN STREET, CORNER WITH THE LA VETA CROSS STREET OF ST. JOSEPH HOSPITAL
TIME: 4:30 TO 6:00 PM
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT, WE NEED YOUR PRESENCE, WE NEED YOUR VOICE
The struggle of our brothers and sisters is our struggle. The community needs to express our solidarity.
Saludos siempre en lucha,
Maria Rosa
I don’t understand this at all. I do feel bad for the bus drivers, particularly since their union leaders have already screwed them out of over $1 million – as they did not accept the OCTA’s offer to pay them via an extension. Instead they went on strike – with NO PAY.
Also, most of the bus riders that are suffering right now are in fact Mexican-Americans and Mexican immigrants. Shouldn’t MAPA be supporting them? I think they ought to be calling on the OCTA and the bus driver’s union (the Teamsters) to settle this strike NOW – not later.
And Nativo ought to be calling on Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido to get out from under the table and get this strike resolved. His people ought to be picketing Santa Ana’s City Hall!
Instead, Nativo is looking the other way while the people suffer. Weird.
I don’t think it’s weird at all. I think it’s all about power and control. Always has been.
Kinda reminds me of the lobster joke someone told me…
Nativio and Mayor No Nuts do not care about the poor. Both of these guys are only interested in themselves. Nativo is trying to make a comeback and Mayor No Nuts is trying to keep his mayoral seat.
If they have to sacrifice poor people, they will.
you all think the Mayor has all this power to just end it, I don’t get it, he is not Superman. My feeling is, if the drivers aren’t happy, cross the pickets and go to work. Enough drivers doing that would send a message to both sides.
As far as Nativo, he just likes to start problems.
No one believes Mayor No Nuts can end the strike. Where is he? As the mayor of the most populated city in Orange County and certainly with the residents most affected by the strike, he should be standing in front of a news camera assuring his contituents that he will do whatever he can to facilitate the end of the strike. Someone feed the Mayor some MiracleGro so that his twig can grow some berries.
Be realistic. Nativo is just another politican following the scent of dinero in the air. This not new information.
Thank you Nativo!!!
I applaud his efforts and for supporting the bus drivers. The reason the OCTA and the majority of the residents don’t care about the bus service is because the majority of riders are poor and often minorities.
I stand in solidarity with the drivers. They do a great job and deserve to be compensated justly. You get what you pay for and if we don’t compensate the drivers well enough and they leave it will be the riders that suffer.
Don’t tell me I don’t know about how it feels to be a bus rider. I rode the bus daily from 2001-2006. How many of you have ridden on the bus recently, if ever?
I used to ride the bus to the beach from Santa Ana when I was in high school before I could drive many years ago (OCTD days) and it was a pretty cool way to get there. I think we need more direct buses to Corona Del Mar and Newport Beach from Santa Ana.
Art, my friend,
This is not strange at all. Democrats and other liberal minded folks are very supportive of unions. Whether is because they have deep pockets and donate to a lot of campaigns for democrats and liberals, or because the principle of a union strike goes back to the days of Hoffa, and it almost seems to be a requirement if you are left leaning, should come to no surprise any liberal sides with unions.
Nativo, politically, is very much aligned with that mentality and will always stand by any union regardless of the reasons.
Nativo understands, I believe, the importance of sacrificing for a few days in order to help a union member.
Luis:
Your analysis leaves a lot to be desired. Good left leaning folks also side with the poor. In this instance, that means the many poor, immigrant Latinos who rely on the buses as their primary source of transporation are suffering, not bus drivers or people like Mr. Lopez.
Perhaps the union could do something to assist the transit-dependent people. I doubt that will happen given Labor’s adversarial relationship with immigrants.
Poster 9,
It is apparent, from Luis’ analysis, that Nativo has chosen to meet the needs of the few instead of the needs of the many. Karl Marx would be ashamed of him.
#4 “he should stand in front of a news camera and assure contituents that he will do whatever he can to facililitate the end of the strike.” why? he can’t. even if he and Janet teamed up, nothing would happen. The Riders need to go to OCTA and demand credit for all those passes, they can’t use.
#9
How is it the bus driver’s job to take care of all the poor and non-driving working class? They do it all the time, every route they drive. And if you rode the bus, you’d know that.
So why are they supposed to give up decent pay and other employment options because their managers can’t negotiate with the union? What’s next? asking the bus drivers to give each rider a sack lunch that they prepare with their own time and resources? Or maybe just hand out a dollar to each poor rider out of the driver’s wallet each day?
It wasn’t too long ago that the teacher’s union tricked the teachers into accepting a multi year pay cut so the district could balance the budget. Biggest mistake they could have made. Not only did the district NOT get its collective act together, but the district lost some excellent talent and gained a terrible reputation as being inept and unfriendly towards educational staff.
Tom Harrison, president of the teacher’s union at the time, shafted the teachers. At least the bus drivers seem to have a negotiation team that isn’t just rolling over for managment. Lucky them.
#11. Are you saying the almighty Mayor No Nuts has no political influence over at the OCTA?
Wow. I guess Santa Ana is the land of OZ!
#13 EXACTLY, and he is nothing more then the Wizard/ The Man behind the curtain, for those that don’t know the story.