Most hated man in Philly

[Warren2ThaG]

Willie Brown used to drive a trolley. Now he's steering a union.

 

And piloting it through a transit strike that has halted buses and subways, stranded hundreds of thousands of riders, and made Brown, as he says, "the most hated man in Philadelphia."

 

Brown was largely quiet leading up to the Election Day strike, but spoke loudly and clearly at a news conference yesterday.

 

Mayor Nutter? "Little Caesar," Brown said. "He has destroyed any good faith we had to try to negotiate a contract."

 

Media coverage? "Misleading," if not "totally, totally false."

 

Length of the strike? "As long as we have to."

 

Brown, 46, is shaped like a bullet, round on top and thick through the middle. People who know him say he's smart, articulate, and pugnacious - and has a temper. He's been president of SEPTA's largest union, Transport Workers Union Local 234, which represents 5,100 operators and mechanics, for 14 months.

 

Brown strode into the news conference wearing a brown overcoat, a blue dress shirt, and no tie. He spoke for less than 10 minutes and took no questions.

---

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20091105_Transit_union_chief_says_he_s__quot_most_hated_quot_.html

[Guest N4S]

I live in the heart of this city and I do not take the bus or subway but did every day of highschool and college. It's a pain but gets the job done.

 

Right now with the strike the main streets are jam packed because everyone is driving to work. Especially to the down town area.

 

Here is my gripe.

 

The bus drivers, train operators, etc all get paid like 25.00 an hour and have a 'no-layoff clause' in their contracts.

 

Our firemen and police officers are not getting that much $ and they get laid off left and right. And put their lives on the line by protecting ours.

 

What's wrong with this picture?