obsoletevernacular9

obsoletevernacular9 t1_jeg1odz wrote

Which makes sense - they wanted members to voluntarily get vaccinated, but didn't want to mandate it to their members unless they bargained for it.

I just double checked and 94% of the Boston firefighters union was vaccinated by January 2022, but they were still against it being mandated without bargaining for it.

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obsoletevernacular9 t1_jefza5a wrote

Seriously, google "vaccine mandate", "collective bargaining", and either Becky Pringle or Randi Weingarten from the NEA and AFT. You'll find a lot of articles about the controversy over vaccine mandates for educators who didn't want to lose local bargaining power or agreed to a mandate in exchange for concessions. Randi fairly consistently said in summer 2021 that they would bargain for a mandate and did not support the idea initially until Delta was raging and the start of school approached.

This was a pretty big controversy in summer 2021. It's normal for a union to not want a mandate imposed on their members without gaining something.

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obsoletevernacular9 t1_jcy5rlj wrote

Right, seems like there could also be some type of mini ramp for wheel chair users and a designated spot for the green line to stop to make the ground level stops truly accessible.

This doesn't matter for stroller users, as you said, but isn't fair for others with mobility challenges. And by not fair I mean not ..legal

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obsoletevernacular9 t1_jcxrg8c wrote

They reviewed my infant bucket seat the baby was in at MGH and looked up how to tighten it because they didn't know the seat.

At Cambridge, they followed us to the car (borrowed from in laws) to watch us put the baby in a convertible seat.

I do know people who have been strongly warned against leaving by the T, which is a good call when you've just given birth.

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obsoletevernacular9 t1_jcxr7zd wrote

Makes sense, I haven't been back since it was finished.

The original union plan had no elevator and a type of low grade ramp that was pretty far from the stop. It ended up being something like .4 or .5 miles to enter the station exposed to the elements if you were in a wheelchair, pushing a stroller, etc.

The temporary one wasn't bad. My pushback at the East station was that they combined the station entrance ramp for everyone (there are no stairs) with the CPX exit / entrance ramp.

It's pretty foreseeable that there will be collisions in the future.

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obsoletevernacular9 t1_jcw9e46 wrote

Didn't even notice Ball Square had an elevator, and I haven't been to union since the Medford tufts like opened and used the ramp. Never saw an elevator.

The East stop is definitely the worst though. The ramp is going to suck when CPX opens.

Ironically the state "owed" GLX because of 93's impact on East Somerville, not the city as a whole, and we have the worst stop with the least pedestrian improvements around it.

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obsoletevernacular9 t1_jcw1eb5 wrote

Yes, or anyone with a suitcase or cart. It's not friendly to the elderly either.

The thing with carrying a stroller is that you can really only safely do that with 2 adults and 1 kid or a very light stroller if you're alone.

My sister lives in NYC and had a baby in fall and when I warned her about this, she said they wouldn't take the subway much. It's incredible how much transit inaccessibility incentivizes people to drive in the most dense city in the US.

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obsoletevernacular9 t1_jcw0zhb wrote

I didn't realize those stops didn't have elevators - I guess because we would always use govt center, park st, Copley, Kenmore instead.

Right, you have to get on in the back generally - I reviewed a lot of the GLX plans on a citizen committee and most don't have elevators, they're just either flat or have ramps with low enough grade to meet ADA standards.

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obsoletevernacular9 t1_jcvziay wrote

It's awful right ? I have no idea how disabled people with mobility challenges are supposed to be able to live there.

It's really tough for parents of little kids, too, because most subway stations don't have elevators and you can't bring an open stroller on the bus. I have un coincidentally not been back to NYC since I had only one kid.

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obsoletevernacular9 t1_jcvnjc6 wrote

We have 3 diono seats - they fit 3 in a row due to being narrow and are easy to get in and out of a Zipcar or rental car.

We take the bus and T a ton, too - every T stop has elevators thanks to an ADA lawsuit in the 90s. I have both a side by side and convertible double stroller.

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obsoletevernacular9 t1_j2et1p9 wrote

If that's your budget, Fairfield county along the train line. I grew up in Darien and wouldn't personally live because of the overall ritziness and wealth, but they are completely redoing the downtown to be more like a European village. Westport and Fairfield would also make sense, as well as Old Greenwich, if you can afford it.

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