Power
Have you ever been on the commuter end of a sick-out? What's that, you say? It's when a hapless commuter, fully trusting the efficiency of his local bus system, arrives at the bus stop only to find this message flashing on the time arrival screen, "There will be no service for the 51B today." What?
He frantically pulls out his phone to find out what could possibly cause such a travesty of travel. He gets his answer—a sick-out. Apparently, while he was in dream land the previous night, the trusty bus drivers were conspiring to cause some major disruptions in service. They are still in dream land because they called in sick.
Whatever the reasons behind a sick-out or strike, bus drivers have the power to throw a whole lot of people off track when they refuse to buckle up. It's best to keep bus drivers happy in their job so that the commuters can get to theirs. We're talking time and money here, people—on both sides.
Bus drivers also make decisions that have a major effect on your safety. There's always someone driving a car, riding a bike, or cruising on a Vespa who believes that that he can beat the bus or cut in front of the bus.
To avoid accidents, bus drivers make hundreds of split-second decisions each day that could mean the difference between someone getting to the interview on time or explaining that he was late because the bus driver had to file an accident report with the police. The difference is the power of good judgment.