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With the MTA and the transit workers union still in contract negotiations, every day without an agreement is another day for the media to help us freak out about the possibility of a strike. The NY Times details what is at stake for both parties. Basically, the MTA wants "flexibility in work assignments, tighter sick leave rules and less substantial health care and pension benefits for future employees". Flexibility as in being able to combine the jobs of train operator and conductor into one (hello, OPTO!) and the former token booth workers to "answer questions - to dust and wipe down the booths, empty trash cans and do other 'cleaning functions' around MetroCard vending machines; tighter sick leave as in halving sick days to six per year; less health care and pension benefits as in new employees paying new premiums and only getting benefits at 62 (versus the current 55). The transit union's main concern seems to be getting higher wages that will offset inflation - and not accepting the MTA's new demands. There seems to be some unhappiness with the president of the Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, Roger Touissant, over the last contract negotation in 2002 (wage freeze the first year of the three year contract), so if he concedes too much this time around, he may be out in the next union election.
amNew York looked at the 1980 transit strike today: Mayor Koch told workers to have a martini after work, companies booked hotel rooms for employees (increasing the population by 500,000), and people, after walking to work in "inappropriate footwear," soon turned to...sneakers! [Mayor John Lindsay was given a transit strike on his first day on the job in 1966.] And our readers would love to telecommute to work.
Photograph of New Yorkers commuting during the 1980 transit strike from the AP
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I wonder if anyone is secretly hoping for a one day transit strike, if only to be able to skate in some old school wheels. Good weather allowing, of course.
i know i am!
Hey, if it's really crappy - snowshoes! Or sled dogs! That would be awesome...
Or could people use those self propelled railroad cars (like from "O Brother Where Art Thou")?
MTA should grow some balls and just fire and expel the whole lot of them.
I don't know what's worse, the simpering elitist transit workers or the spineless "we don't want to ruffle feathers" MTA.
I am hoping that "simpering elitist transit workers" was for real- because That is just too good
I wouldn't characterize the majority of MTA workers as "elitist"; I think that "worthless" would be far more accurate for many of them. Except for the mechanics repairing buses and technicians that are installing new track signalling equipment, the rest of the jobs could be easily performed by any semi-literates who want to tie a red handkerchief around their necks and yell "Choo-choo!" or just sit on their asses and not clean up the shit that accumulates in trains and subway stations.
Don't get me started on the douchebags running the MTA - they suck ass too. But I see the value in paying down future pension obligations and making capital improvements to the system now over giving the TWU knuckle-draggers even more $$$. If they don't want the jobs, fuck 'em. Some recently arrived immigrant group will take them.
I think we all can relate to the need for more money and medical benefits in a city where prices are spiraling out of control. However, I do not think that the MTA should ever consider striking, as they are responsible to the 7 million New Yorkers who depend on their services everyday.
What they do is provide a vital service not just a job.. Would Con Edison cut off the electricity, would KeySpan cut off the Gas? If they strike, they will amplify the everlasting hatred, which most New Yorkers already feel toward the Transit authority
"dude," sorry, but I can't muster sympathy for any worker who needs the power of a union behind him to get higher wages. If you're important enough to be worth that kind of money, the companies will be tripping over each other to throw it at you. If you're easy to replace at half the salary, then I say let them replace you. Just don't give me any bull about "my wage is too low and my benefits suck, so everybody else is going to go on strike with me, too." Funny, in any field other than labor, this kind of action would be considered organized crime. [Lenny the Weasel mode on] Psst. Hey, buddy. Ya wouldn't want your trains to stop, now, wouldja? [Lenny the Weasel mode off]
Those who believe that an MTA worker is easy to replace should not complain about the threat of a strike or other union action, because a strike or union action by a worker who is easy to replace is accordingly not effective.
Again, if the worker is that irreplaceable, why does he need a union? Why can't he just say "give ME more money or I quit" the way any important professional does? Why does it have to be "give us ALL more money or we shut down the system"? It takes a bit of time to train replacements, and that's the only reason a strike would hurt. If the MTA had started training replacements a few weeks ago, a strike would be worthless, but of course the union would never have allowed that.
On the MTA website, they sometimes have surpluss stuff for sale, somtimes they have buses. Perhaps people can pitch in to buy a few and start their own transit system.
Those who believe that an MTA worker is easy to replace should not complain that training replacements takes time, because training replacements for a worker who is easy to replace is accordingly fast (as time is money is ease). Nor should they complain about union intervention in training replacements, because a strike or union action by a worker who is easy to replace is accordingly not effective.
Circular reasoning in a barely rephrased paragraph. Based on your name, may I assume you're from mainland China? Some of us here adhere to the belief that the individual should rise or fall on his or her own merits rather than depending on collective extortion. You seem to forget that they're not talking about a "strike or union action by A worker who is easy to replace," but rather a strike by ALL the workers in the system. Quite a different animal. Are you aware that strikes have to be supported by the vast majority of the rank and file or they lose all effectiveness?