Strike a wasteful sham
I do not see how leaders of the transport group PISTON can claim victory after two days of a jeepney strike. And for them to point to the government reaction of cancelling classes and shutting down government offices as proof of such victory is truly a skewed way of seeing things. Which is probably why they struck in the first place -because they have a skewed way of looking at what the government is proposing.
The government is proposing the modernization of the jeepney sector. Agreed that modernization will have to entail some cost. But whoever said life is a free lunch? Yet the members of PISTON cannot see that in order to earn something, you have to spend something. And here is where their outlook really gets inside out. They cannot see that eventually time will take its toll and they will still have to modernize. But by that time, things shall have cost them an arm and a leg.
For PISTON to claim victory with the government having been forced to suspend classes and government functions only betrays the shallowness of its position, and thus its principles, if it even has any, which I doubt very seriously. Any suspension of classes is a loss to students. Any suspension of government functions is a loss to the nation. Anybody who exults in the loss of anything is a greedy and self-centered demon.
The fact that no other transport group of note joined PISTON is a testament to the bankruptcy of the position it has taken. The modernization program of the government will affect the entire jeepney sector. One would have thought this volatile sector would erupt in a united protest. But nothing of the sort happened. It appears only PISTON has such a dim view of meaningful and practical change.
Rather than being the victory that its leaders claim the PISTON strike to be, it was on the other hand a big fat flop. When you embark on a protest action like a strike against something, the only victory possible in the ensuing circumstances is the removal of that something. But after two days of its feeble and unilateral strike, the government is not budging an inch from its position. Only those with a skewed perspective can muster the gall to call that a victory.
On the other hand, what did PISTON and its members gain from their two days of folly? Nothing. On the contrary, they lost two days of income that could have meant a lot for the well-being of their families. But then again, maybe they did not lose anything, because from the looks of it, PISTON got ample support from groups that have made a cottage industry out of protesting.
So why settle for only two days then? If PISTON is truly convinced the course of action it has taken is the way to go, why not try a month-long strike? That will really test who gets to cry uncle first, PISTON or the government. It can even go for three months, or even a year for good measure. But to take action that it knows is not going to change anything is not only a waste of everybody's time, it also exposes its own self as a sham.
The better way to go for PISTON is to recognize first the inevitability of modernization. Once it gets to accept that unassailable fact, maybe it can sit down with government to propose a way to go about modernizing that will not be very hard on its members. Or it can devise means to make things easier for themselves. To be imaginative is always better than to be intransigent. If you do not have the means to fight government for the long haul, do not be stubborn. Be smart.
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