He doesn't get a gold star, because the bullet-shaped and bull-headed Brown said and did some dumb things along the way. The former trolley driver doesn't have Dag Hammarskjold's deft diplomatic touch nor Von Clausewitz's gift for strategy.
Brown made three mistakes. In descending order:
1. He started the strike at 3 a.m., stranding befuddled riders who awoke Tuesday morning with no way to get to work. That was heartless. Brown later apologized, but he ought to spend a week on various bus, trolley and subway routes personally apologizing to riders.
2. That would be unusual for Brown, because he drives to work, he told an interviewer. It's hard to think of a more arrogant statement. Brown basically told SEPTA riders, "You ride, I drive. Ef you."(I had no luck getting Brown for an interview.)
3. He should have carried out his threat to strike on the Friday night before the first Philly World Series game. It would have affected mostly rich guys with $500 tickets, not the riding public. A strike - and the potential of an international black eye - might have panicked the mayor, governor, congressman and SEPTA into agreeing to union terms, which they wound up doing anyway.
Willie Brown lost the PR battle, but he won the war.
He dug in his dragon claws and wouldn't yield until he got what his members wanted - a fair contract, maybe more than fair in today's economy, but not outrageous.
Good for them.
They'll get no raise the first year other than a $1,250 signing bonus, raises of 1.5 percent in July, 1 percent in December 2010, 2.5 percent in 2011, 3.5 percent in 2012 and 3 percent in 2013.
The union's health-insurance contribution remains at 1 percent of base pay, and the pension contribution increases from 1.5 to 3 percent over the life of the contract.
I wish I had a contract that good. Unless you're blessed, a Wall Street pig or lying through your incisors, so do you.
