Yes, I actually looked quite thoroughly.
It applies in that the minimum wage is too low, so the bottom end of the workers have an extraordinarily unfair salary, in spite of the fact that they probably work 40+ hour weeks driving subway trains.
I have made a histogram to illustrate this problem: http://pastie.org/8106373
You can see from the data that the highest paid worker makes at least 25x the amount of the lowest paid worker.
This is not what I'd call fair. To be clear, it's not just the BART. We could do this with salary data from any municipality or corporation in the US.
I am operating on the assumption that many of the "train operators" are full time workers, which is not indicated in the data. I'd say it's a fairly good bet, though.
That is easily one of the most hazardous and unpleasant jobs, yet they are paid dirt. See, it doesn't matter how hard you work in our society. You can dig the dirtiest hole every day, sweat, and bleed, and you will be rewarded with a substandard wage. Instead, we reward the things that propel us forward, which does make sense: anyone can dig a hole. The problem is that not everyone has equal access to the means to acquire the skills which are so jealously rewarded. Yet, they do everything right anyway, work hard, and this is what they get. A 25x lower paying job than the highest paid executive.
We can fix this by raising the minimum wage to something fair. Australia has theirs at around $16 USD.
It applies in that the minimum wage is too low, so the bottom end of the workers have an extraordinarily unfair salary, in spite of the fact that they probably work 40+ hour weeks driving subway trains.
I have made a histogram to illustrate this problem: http://pastie.org/8106373
You can see from the data that the highest paid worker makes at least 25x the amount of the lowest paid worker.
This is not what I'd call fair. To be clear, it's not just the BART. We could do this with salary data from any municipality or corporation in the US.
I am operating on the assumption that many of the "train operators" are full time workers, which is not indicated in the data. I'd say it's a fairly good bet, though.
That is easily one of the most hazardous and unpleasant jobs, yet they are paid dirt. See, it doesn't matter how hard you work in our society. You can dig the dirtiest hole every day, sweat, and bleed, and you will be rewarded with a substandard wage. Instead, we reward the things that propel us forward, which does make sense: anyone can dig a hole. The problem is that not everyone has equal access to the means to acquire the skills which are so jealously rewarded. Yet, they do everything right anyway, work hard, and this is what they get. A 25x lower paying job than the highest paid executive.
We can fix this by raising the minimum wage to something fair. Australia has theirs at around $16 USD.