NYC Transit Strike

[jake75]

NEW YORK - Commuters trudged through the freezing cold, rode bicycles and shared cabs Tuesday as New York's bus and subway workers went on strike for the first time in more than 25 years and stranded millions of riders at the height of the Christmas rush. A judge slapped the union with a $1 million-a-day fine.State Justice Theodore Jones leveled the sanction against the Transport Workers Union for violating a state law that bars public employees from going on strike. The city and state had asked Jones to hit the union with a "very potent fine."The union said it would immediately appeal, calling the penalty excessive.The heavy penalty could force the union off the picket lines and back on the job. Under the law, the union's 33,000 members will also lose two days' pay for every day they are on strike, and they could also be thrown in jail.Gov. George Pataki said the union acted illegally and "will suffer the consequences." But union attorney Arthur Schwartz accused the MTA of provoking the strike.It was the city's first transit strike since an 11-day walkout in 1980. The effect this time, however, was tempered by the advent of personal computers, which enabled many commuters to stay home and work via the Internet.Others boarded water taxis along the Hudson River, or jumped into carpools. Many lined up in the cold to await private buses arranged by their employers, or shared yellow cabs with perfect strangers. There was a flat $10 fee for cab riders."The city is functioning, and functioning well considering the severe circumstances," the mayor said. The TWU "shamefully decided they don't care about the people they work for, and they have no respect for the law. Their leadership thuggishly turned its back on the New York City. This strike is costing us."The International TWU, the union's parent, had urged the local not to strike.The mayor put into effect a sweeping emergency plan, including a requirement that cars entering Manhattan below 96th Street have at least four occupants.The union said the latest MTA offer included annual raises of 3 percent, 4 percent and 3.5 percent. Pensions were another major sticking point in the talks, particularly involving new employees.Union local president Roger Toussaint said the union wanted a better offer from the MTA, especially when the agency has a $1 billion surplus this year.Well 3, 4 and 3.5% is better than most are getting these days. The employment is pretty secure, and I'd bet the benefits and retirement aren't too bad either. Jobs that many would like to have I am sure. Just because the sytem has a surplus doesn't mean that these workers are entitled to it. In the end a deal will be reached and the illegal strikers will be "pardoned" of any fines and/or jail time. Might be one of the few unions left that have that kind of clout.Maybe the city should just start hiring scabs - of course the union members will threaten them, maybe even harm them. And again, when a deal is reached all will be forgiven.

[binary]

Look on the bright side, the Taxi's have to be making a killing - an early Christmas bonus for those guys.

[Kari]

Quote, originally posted by binary »Look on the bright side, the Taxi's have to be making a killing - an early Christmas bonus for those guys.If the taxies can actually get anywhere that is...with all the increased traffic on the roads.

[Stang2Vibe]

It doesn't seem that it will matter if the taxis actually get anywhere. The article says they're getting 10 bucks for each passenger that gets in the car, regardless of how far they have to go or how long it takes them. People are probably clammoring to get into any available taxi they find. The drivers are surely making a killing.

[Stang2Vibe]

Quote, originally posted by jake75 »Well 3, 4 and 3.5% is better than most are getting these days. The employment is pretty secure, and I'd bet the benefits and retirement aren't too bad either. Jobs that many would like to have I am sure.True beyond a doubt. I heard about this on the radio yesterday, and they were talking about how these workers earn a higher salary than the average of all workers in New York City. Somewhere in the range of $61,000-$84,000 per year, not including overtime. To put this in perspective for me, that's about 3-4 times what the average Pittsburgh worker makes.Quote, originally posted by jake75 »Just because the sytem has a surplus doesn't mean that these workers are entitled to it.See, this is what I hate about this kind of reporting. This is intentionally deceptive because most people don't think this through. The "surplus" figure is just a number in a budget, it does not exist in any real form. With the way surplus figures are always reported, it makes it look like they have this amount of money sitting in a bank account somewhere. That is a lie. They are hypothetical "target" numbers that a company, organization, or government use as a guide. This is much different than a personal budget like many Americans use to control their personal spending and finances. They purposefully play off of that misconception all the time and it drives me nuts. The national media makes this play on numbers constantly when discussing government finances to suit their storyline.The transit authority does not have a billion dollars sitting around in some account like the media would have us think. That's a bunch of B.S. I know better than that, and now so does everyone else reading this.

[Kari]

Quote, originally posted by Stang2Vibe »It doesn't seem that it will matter if the taxis actually get anywhere. The article says they're getting 10 bucks for each passenger that gets in the car, regardless of how far they have to go or how long it takes them. People are probably clammoring to get into any available taxi they find. The drivers are surely making a killing.Given what the taxies in Manhattan charge and depending on where you're going, a flat $10 a head is probably a discount...

[scherry2]

I'm sure all those people walking and yelling on the news about how they should "get back to work" and "you should be ashamed of yourselves" know all about what was going on in negotiations.I notice that article was real informative...... a little 1 sided just like the news on T.V. all Managment no Union....I noticed a little blurb about pensions....here we go again. the new cost cutting ploy, cut the pensions of people who have given 30 years to a company and pay the heads of the company more.how sad

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by scherry2 » I'm sure all those people walking and yelling on the news about how they should "get back to work" and "you should be ashamed of yourselves" know all about what was going on in negotiations.I notice that article was real informative...... a little 1 sided just like the news on T.V. all Managment no Union....I noticed a little blurb about pensions....here we go again. the new cost cutting ploy, cut the pensions of people who have given 30 years to a company and pay the heads of the company more.how sad Looks like the major pension changes were for new employees - a common tactic because the yet to be employed don;t vote onthe contract.I have never had much love for most unions - they have the same problems as business, the leaders pay themselves well and then steal what they can on on top of that. Unfortunately most union members don't even understand what they are voting for when it comes to a new wage contract - they just listen to the goons at the top. That said, the compensation for top executives is way out of line, and in additon to that they often have several special benefit plans including medical insurance coverage that pays 100% for everything, and generous "supplemental" pension plans. When they screw up, instead of getting fired like we peons would, they get generous severance packages. My former boss "retired" and got almost $3 mil going out the door. Never understood that but since it was KKR's money what did I care. The KKR investors, however, should have cared.