Gothamist Poll: How Long Will the Strike Mumbo Jumbo Last?

As we're now into the second day of Transit Strike 2005, Gothamist has to start wondering when will all of this end? We've heard some reports that the strike will end no sooner than Thursday. There was some novelty in day 1 of the strike and while we're still okay with our contingency plan today, how long can we take it?

Will New Yorkers be celebrating the holidays at home, stuck and stranded from their loved ones across the city? Will we be ringing in the New Year's by watching the ball drop on Times Square filled with tourists? Wait, we already watch on TV. Anyway, how long can both sides go? the MTA has already declared an impasse in negotiations, which could eventually lead to binding arbitration. The TWU opposes arbitration as its members can't vote on it.

With limited progress made on contract negotiations, we ask you, when will service be restored after the strike?

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By tien mao in News on December 21, 2005 9:18 AM

Comments [rss]

Ian

I think people need to hear more about why the TWU is really striking. The union has done a poor job of telling the riding public why they're off the job. If it was as simple as pay raises or pensions they would just be working without a contract right now while a deal gets done. Juan Gonzalez's article in the daily news today is one of only a handful that express the union's side of the story. The local media is so overplaying the illegality of the strike and how everyone hate's it that the dirty secrets of the MTA and how managments in general have treated the unions in this city is getting overlooked. There's a reason the cops, firemen, and teachers unions are behind the TWU even if they aren't really vocal about it, they see the TWU as being the spearhead for all future labor deals with the city. Not to mention that the heavy handedness the Mayor and Governor have used to try and bully their position have only made it worse. I'm not saying the union is right in striking, i'm just saying that there's a lot more grey area in the situation that most people realize.

Anonymous

Gemma,

If you can get to the Atlantic Ave/Flatbush Ave subway station take the LIRR to Jamaica and the AirTrain to get to JFK. It's easy and inexpensive.

Gemma

Personally, I'm wondering how everyone traveling home this week plans to get to the airport with most car services not taking reservations and so few cabs available. And no way am I wheeling my suitcase from Brooklyn to JFK!

Trilby

Gosh. Where have all the polyannas gone?

Right, this strike is NOT fun, it hurts poor people the most, and it is unconscionable. Let's not put a smiley face on it. It sucks.

Larry Littlefield

(there is no way next week is a slow week. Granted, there will be fewer people commuting to work, but what about all the tourists?)

We'll see after the fact, but I suspect that the economic damage of a strike at this time of year vs. any other has been over-hyped.

Of course it's easy for me to say. The working poor, who generally lack both health insurance and any retirement plan (to keep down prices for those who have them) will probably lose days of pay if they can't get in.

But tourists will still be able to get to Manhattan and walk around, and hotel occupancy is typically low this time of year anyway. People who live in Manhattan will have plenty of cab capacity for weekend travel, and the commuter rail lines still serve those from the suburbs. Work that isn't done this week will be done next week. Purchases were probably made last week, or will be made in outer-borough neighborhoods.

If the TWU had operated the system but refused to collect fares, forcing tax increases to make up the difference, it would have been a strike against taxpayers. As it is, it is a strike against the working poor and, to a lesser extent, the non-poor young.

mark

i predict that the strike will go 'til after new year's day (although i hope that i'm wrong). btw, i hafta say that i'm not impressed by the city's contingency planning as far as manhattan goes. $10 for what's normally a $5 cab ride? it basically means that only the wealthy can jet around in cabs (or middle-class people who blow a ton of money on taxis), while everybody else has to suffer in the cold.

yet more evidence that the people running the city are out of touch with the people they serve. f the mta.

famdoc

The strike will be ended by a courageous state or federal judge who will enforce the Taylor Law by ordering a return to work and a thirty day cooling off period along with a mediated settlement. Given the calendar, with long holiday weekends, this will probably take place on the Tuesday after New Years.

MT

The TWU opposes binding arbitration because they are not going to get any of their ridiculous demands met and they are going to be forced to take a reasonable deal for a change.

jenny

Larry, there is no way next week is a slow week. Granted, there will be fewer people commuting to work, but what about all the tourists? How are they going to get to Rock Center, Radio City, etc.? And what about Times Square on New Year's Eve? I would bet a very large chuck of people get there by subway -- there's no other choice when hundreds of thousands of people are involved. Yes, sometimes those tourists are the bane of our existance, but they bring tons of money into the city at this time of year.

sarah

toby, i agree. the union is very quickly losing whatever small amount of public sympathy they may have orginally had. And I don't think even that was anywhere near what some in the media would have you believe. Most people I talked to pre-strike were not on the union's side on this one as they might have been with other negotiations.

lily

Right now they are being fined $1 million a day and they have $3 million in the union's treasury. If the strike goes into Friday, they are foolishly bankrupting their union. I am hoping that they can wake up and realize that the strike is not helping anyone (or making anyone more sympathetic) and only through continual negotiations can they reach somewhere.

Larry Littlefield

It either ends tomorrow or goes until after New Years.

The longer it goes, the greater the TWU incentive to hold out until the fines are waived or in effect paid for by taxpayers/riders.

On the other hand, if that happens, they strike every year until they get a 20.50 pension and the system collapses (like it did after the last 20/50 pension -- could happen in 5 yrs anyway due to debt). So the MTA, city and state have more and more reason to hold out.

You have two three day weekends for many people, and a slow week in between, with much of the economic damage done. So the city and state will have no incentive to bargain if the strike goes through Friday. The MTA won't want to pay overtime for horrific service on Christmas.

No matter how long this goes, it will be a "sunk cost" and will not affect where people choose to live/do business if it is unlikely to be repeated for, say, another 25 years. The prospect of ongoing strikes and service/maintenance declines, on the other hand, could have the desired 1970s effect. Better to have a two week strike than waive the penalties.

Toby

The 1966 strike lasted 12 days.

The 1980 strike lasted 11 days.

If the pattern continues, this strike will last 10 days. Hopefully the pattern will not continue and it will be much shorter.

Also WNBC reported that Toussant is following poll numbers, thinking that eventually the people will force the MTA back to the table. The TWU is in the wrong, as they are getting a nice salary and benefits package. The more the strike goes on the more I hate the greedy TWU.