If you thought Chicago’s rogue bus union was an isolated incident of transit workers taking a very ill-considered stand against an entire populace of angry riders, you were wrong. The same sorry story is happening right now in San Francisco, where Municipal Railway (Muni) bus and light-rail operators are causing service cutbacks by refusing to give up a yearly wage increase written (incredibly) into the city charter.

By way of background, as every Chicagoan undoubtedly knows, on February 7th, the CTA was forced to lay off 1,000 union workers and cut 10% of ‘L’ service and 20% of bus service. That mini transit-doomsday happened because the CTA’s unions refused to agree to wage, health insurance, and pension concessions that were triggered by staggering shortfalls in operating revenue thanks to the moribund economy.

Instead of blaming state lawmakers in Springfield for Chicago transit woes, this time Chicagoans blamed the union workers, themselves, for having the audacity to demand wage increases at a time when many riders can’t even find jobs. Making matters even uglier, now Jesse Jackson is leading a charge with bus union president Darrell Jefferson to essentially extort the CTA to rehire the laid off workers by threatening work slowdowns and a potential (and illegal) strike if the agency doesn’t restore the lost union jobs.

Obviously bus union workers are getting some really bad advice here. Laying on an outdated diatribe claiming the CTA needed to fire a few expensive management “fatcats” before laying off workers, Jefferson originally told his union that the CTA would blink before pulling the trigger on CTA doomsday. Finance likely isn’t his strong point. The CTA is already pared down to the bone and the sales taxes that largely fund the agency are demonstrably not there anymore. Angering the riding public even further will just stiffen what is already very strong civic resolve to let the bus union in no uncertain terms drop dead. Which it probably would from state fines if the union voted to carry out an illegal strike (as was the financial fate of New York’s transit union following its own illegal strike in 2005.)

As described by San Francisco Chronicle columnist C. W. Nevius, San Francisco transit workers have an amazing deal: an annual eight-percent pay raise that’s written right into the San Francisco city charter. Just like the CTA, Muni has a reputation for unreliability and sub-standard service. As will sound familiar to Chicagoans, thanks to the ongoing recession, the City by the Bay no longer has sufficient revenues coming in to afford to pay out that guaranteed annual raise while still maintaining transit service. And there, too, union leaders are claiming that mythical management bloat needs to be culled at the transit agency before cutbacks or layoffs happen.

Such rhetoric didn’t stop Muni’s board from voting to lay off 230 union workers, cut 10% of service, and raise fares beginning May 1st. Muni riders have been here before. In 2009, they suffered through an initial round of service cuts and fare increases, and as local media report, they’re still livid about it. Knowing that the latest cutbacks are being caused by transit workers refusing to give up guaranteed raises at a time when many Muni riders can’t find work (echo? echo?) has San Francisco’s ridership nearing open rebellion.

Riding the wave of anti-union sentiment, one San Francisco supervisor is launching a campaign to amend the city charter to force Muni workers into collective bargaining. It’s a change that’s likely to happen, and it’s a virtual certainty that when it does, Muni workers won’t end up with a contract as sweet as their current wage deal. The Chronicle’s Nevius says Muni union head Irwim Lum thinks the union “had no choice” but to refuse to negotiate on any sort of wage giveback.

The frank response from Nevius could have been uttered as equally in Chicago as in San Francisco:

“Actually, you did. You voted it down. This would be a good time to see if you can get that deal again.”

Especially if you’re a Chicago bus driver who thinks striking or slowing down CTA service will win any sympathy from your fellow Chicagoans. You may know us as the people who pay your salary.

For now.

(At least I didn’t go to Fisherman’s Wharf. Besides, cliched view notwithstanding, Alamo Square is a very groovy dog park).

Devyn and I are back from our coastal sojourns and it’s official: he wants to move to New York (eventually), and I want to move to San Francisco (yesterday if possible, please). The unbridled density and punishing beauty of SFO are mind boggling. Devyn reminds me San Francisco has earthquakes. Well, NYC has terrorist attacks. And unlike terrorists, the earthquakes aren’t actually trying to kill you. For now, we content in the midwestern middle.

Observations…I can’t believe they complain about Muni, its transit service is miles ahead of the CTA. (Meanwhile, can someone please, um, clean BART? Three bucks just to cross the bay, you shouldn’t have to sit on wino stains).

The view from the top of Mission Dolores Park beats Alamo Square’s any day.

Gay couple walks hand-in-hand past homeboys in a scruffy part of the Sunset, nobody bats an eye.

Scruffy Sunset is redundant.

Oh God, the density, the density. Can we please import that to Chicago?

Fewer homeless thanks to Gavin Newsom, yet I still have to call 911 on a gang fight at the Powell Street cable car turnaround.

Somehow makes me grateful SFO isn’t perfect. But standing at the top of Lombard, at 10 p.m., when the tourists are firmly ensconced in North Beach or bed and it’s finally quiet and deserted, gazing across to Telegraph Hill and the line of lights twinkling atop the East Bay hills beyond, with the faint clang of a cable car bell in the distance, you’d sure think that it was.

Ten percent of the San Francisco that I shot. (Captions are for pishers…)

Gone off to San Francisco for the weekend, while Devyn goes off to spend some quality time with his best friend in New York. Our separate trips peg well our common proclivities. We both live in Chicago, the third-most densely settled city in America. Where do we go to get away from it all? The most and second-most densely settled cities in America.

Some people don’t believe that we label anywhere north of North Avenue a day trip. When you can walk to anything you need to buy or want to do in the center of things, going out of downtown is definitely going out of your way. So why bother leaving downtown save for an even better downtown?

A pretty good match, us, I think.