Master Index of Archived Threads


After Midnight

Centerfield Dec 16 2005 12:07 AM

Strike? No strike?

silverdsl Dec 16 2005 09:31 AM

Apparently as of now a partial strike effecting just the two private bus lines that the MTA recently aquired. There is still the threat of a larger strike looming, no time table seemed to be given as to when that might happen though.

Frayed Knot Dec 16 2005 09:46 AM

They're gonna let it all hang out

seawolf17 Dec 16 2005 09:47 AM

They're gonna chug-a-lug and shout. They may also stimulate some action.

metirish Dec 16 2005 09:49 AM

Up the Union.....

seawolf17 Dec 16 2005 09:53 AM

When I was 14, I got a job at the local Pathmark. I was there a few months, and our union started talking about going on strike. At 14, I was thrilled. I thought it was the coolest thing, even though I had no idea what the issues were. We settled and it never came to blows, but I was looking forward to picketing.

Centerfield Dec 20 2005 08:32 AM

Transit strikes suck.

KC Dec 20 2005 09:05 AM

7,000,000 passengers a day is just a mind boggling figure. Good luck youse guys - hope they end it soon.

Yancy Street Gang Dec 20 2005 09:24 AM

Does this also affect New Jersey Transit, Metro North, and the Long Island Rail Road?

Johnny Dickshot Dec 20 2005 09:33 AM

I walked. 1 hour, 10 minutes, 3 boroughs, 2 bridges.

HahnSolo Dec 20 2005 09:39 AM

I take NJT into Penn Station and walk from there. Strike does not affect Metro North, NJT or LIRR. But you could see some sympathy walkouts there. I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, my dad is retired TWU. So that union helped put me through Catholic school for 12 years, and gave my family a decent, if not affluent, life. So I should be behind the union 100%. But on the other hand, my wife is a NYC teacher. And I just can't--be it jealousy, envy, or what--fathom the thought that a token clerk could get a better contract than she. She has no problem with it though. And the other thing that bothers me is that the cops, firemen, and teachers can work without a contract for years (2 years most recently in the teachers case, and longer for the cops and firemen), but the TWU can't?

seawolf17 Dec 20 2005 09:40 AM

="Yancy Street Gang"]Does this also affect New Jersey Transit, Metro North, and the Long Island Rail Road? Not really, unless you count everyone in the outer boroughs trying to smoosh onto trains that are already full of commuters. Doesn't affect us out here much. For the folks from the suburbs who work in midtown, it's probably not terrible. Inconvenient, because it's cold and you have to walk thirty blocks, but not terrible. For our friend who lives in Kew Gardens and works in the Bronx, it's terrible.

Lundy Dec 20 2005 09:42 AM

LIRR, Metro North, and New Jersey transit are not affected. My train was about 15 minutes late and took on a few more passengers in Jamaica than it normall does. Getting out of Penn Station was a little of a hassle. I usually sneak out of Penn via one of the subway exits and avoid the mass crowds, but they closed off all access to the subway. Should make for an interesting ride home.

Methead Dec 20 2005 09:45 AM

I probably had the easiest commute of anyone in the office today. Took the train to Grand Central, walked to 14th Street. And I was only 10 minutes late. Most of the office lives in Brooklyn, and I bet most of them won't come in. I'm the only one here so far. I was thinking this morning... I guess now I've pretty much experienced everything NYC has to offer.

sharpie Dec 20 2005 09:49 AM

I drove. Had to take the littlest sharpie to school in Chelsea. Picked up two women at Prospect Park -- one going to Chinatown, one to the Upper East Side. Easy traffic, got to work/school early. Found a parking lot on 51st and 10th where it costs $9.60 for the day.

seawolf17 Dec 20 2005 09:51 AM

sharpie wrote: Found a parking lot on 51st and 10th where it costs $9.60 for the day. That surprises me; I'd figure that there would be parking lot price gouging. Wonder if they're cracking down on that.

Johnny Dickshot Dec 20 2005 10:05 AM

I was obliviously approaching the Queensboro Bridge when a guy in a van rolled down his window and asked if I wanted a ride. I turned him down (don't take rides from strangers, Mom said) before I realized that his car needed a 4th passenger to cross. Anywhoo, as long as the ipod battery lasts and it's not raining, you may as well enjoy the transit strike.

sharpie Dec 20 2005 10:13 AM

]That surprises me; I'd figure that there would be parking lot price gouging. Wonder if they're cracking down on that. Well, I won't know for sure until I pay at the end but that's what their sign says. I'll keep that place in mind as two blocks away it was $6 an hour.

PatchyFogg Dec 20 2005 10:46 AM

To get from LI to Wall Street today, I had to go through Jersey.

Yancy Street Gang Dec 20 2005 10:51 AM

Huh? I'm guessing you took the PATH train from Penn Station?

PatchyFogg Dec 20 2005 11:04 AM

Yup. They have "WTC" Direct Trains today, which still stop at 23rd, 14th, 9th, Christopher, Pavonia/Newport and Exchange Place before ending up Downtown.

silverdsl Dec 20 2005 03:33 PM

The strike even effected me and I don't work in the city. My commute from New Jersey to Long Island which usually takes about an hour, took two and a half hours due to all the extra volume on the GWB. For the sake of all the folks who have it even worse than me, I hope the strike is resolved very soon.

Centerfield Dec 20 2005 04:53 PM

In court today, the Judge imposed a stiff $1 million fine on the Union for violation of the Taylor law (prohibiting them from striking). Union leaders may also face jail time. Apparently, the parent union told the local guys not to strike but they went ahead with it anyway.

Yancy Street Gang Dec 20 2005 05:01 PM

Wow.

Centerfield Dec 20 2005 05:39 PM

I certainly don't claim to be any expert on this topic, and admittedly, I didn't really bother to find out details until today when it affected me personally, but unless I'm reading vastly skewed reports (and please let me know if I am), I don't see how one can find much fault with the MTA for this strike. First of all, their last offer seems pretty fair considering what others in the public sector are given these days. And it does seem a bit unfair that transit workers should get a better deal than the teachers. In any case, the TWU doesn't seem to have articulated what specific provisions they view to be unfair. Instead, they offer only broad statements along the lines of how pension is important, health care is important and how they won't sell out their unborn children. Another common thing is repeated references to the $1 billion surplus without addressing that the MTA has already accounted for how it intends to use that money. (The most disturbing thing is that they have given no justification as to why they should be entitled to that money in the event of a surplus...how about the riders that actually paid that money? Maybe we should strike! Who's with me?) Secondly, and this is the more compelling argument, the law is the law. The Taylor law says in no uncertain terms that what they are doing is illegal. They cannot strike...they cannot walk out...if they have a problem with that, attack it in the legislature. Pursue all legal remedies to address your labor concerns, and if the legal ones don't provide you with enough power, lobby to get the law changed to give you more. The more I read, the more it seems this was a huge overplay by Toussaint and the other local union heads. It speaks volumes that their parent union even advised against the strike. I get the feeling that Toussaint may have overplayed his hand, gotten backed up into a corner, and then (having pushed the deadline back already) been forced to strike or be exposed as a paper tiger. And to address the pink elephant in the corner, it's no secret the union is comprised by minority workers. I wonder if it means anything that Al Sharpton or Charlie Rangel haven't come out and publicly backed the union. Am I reading too deep into this? Or does the fact that black leaders have taken the position that they don't want to touch this with a ten foot pole say anything about the union's position?

ScarletKnight41 Dec 20 2005 05:58 PM

I saw Sharpton on the news last night, orating on the union's behalf. Other than that, I'm kind of in the boat you were in yesterday - I haven't studied the details yet.

Centerfield Dec 20 2005 06:03 PM

Really? My mistake. I was watching the news for hours last night and I didn't see Al. Maybe he's not as big a story as he used to be.

ScarletKnight41 Dec 20 2005 06:08 PM

That's possible. I forget which channel we were watching - perhaps 11? And Reverend Al was spouting rhetoric. D-Dad commented how the most dangerous place in the world is the space between Sharpton and a television camera, so I have a pretty clear memory of seeing him on the news. The other possibility is that we've seen him so much over the last however many years that it just doesn't register all that much anymore when he shows up somewhere. He's marginalized himself by this point.

Diamond Dad Dec 20 2005 08:16 PM Taylor Law

The Taylor law is an odd duck. It does give the judge the power to enjoin the strike and issue fines. As a practical matter, the city may agree in the end to waive the fines in exchange for a settlement. Collecting on the judgment for the fines is also tricky, since bankrupting the union is not necessarily in the city's interest. What it can do is hold the enforcement of the fine over the union's head in future disputes. It would be nice if the city showed some balls and started replacing people, but it's such a big workforce that it is nearly impossible to operate the system without them all, or most of them. Hey, power in the people, right?

KC Dec 20 2005 08:23 PM

Showing balls and replacing workers would likely start some really ugly backlash and possible labor riots. We don't want the workers to get too riled up and start fire bombing cars and public property. Oh, wait ... that only happens in civalized countries like France.

Centerfield Dec 21 2005 09:49 PM

State Supreme Court Justice Theodore Jones, who is hearing several legal issues related to the strike, directed attorneys from the Transport Workers Union to bring president Roger Toussaint and other top officials before the court Thursday to answer to a criminal contempt charge. He said he may sentence the union leaders to jail for refusing to end the strike, calling such a scenario a "distinct possibility.'' Wow.

Methead Dec 21 2005 10:36 PM

Hardball.

HahnSolo Dec 22 2005 09:47 AM

Looks like both sides got together over the night, maybe that their under one roof is a good sign. Bloomberg last night said he hopes this judge doesn't throw union leadership in jail, lest they be perceived as martyrs. He'd rather the judge impose stiffer fines. I agree with CF's point above that Touissaint way overplayed his hand. He expected the people of the city to be overwhelmingly behind his union. Boy was he mistaken. Agreeance with KC as well on the replacement workers thing. That will only lead to bad things: fights, sabotage, molotov cocktails flying into train yards. It would also galvanize the other unions in town. Things would only get worse.

Johnny Dickshot Dec 22 2005 12:29 PM

Looks like they'll be going back to work as early as later today. Once they return, they say 12-24 hrs before system is up to speed again.

seawolf17 Dec 22 2005 12:30 PM

So glad they interrupted the first twenty minutes of The Price Is Right to tell us that.

HahnSolo Dec 22 2005 12:32 PM

Boy this Toussaint sure looks heroic. "Follow me, and strike for your rights and your futures!" Fast forward three days. "What's that? They're gonna put me in jail? Back to work, guys!"

cooby Dec 22 2005 12:34 PM

HahnSolo wrote: I agree with CF's point above that Touissaint way overplayed his hand. He expected the people of the city to be overwhelmingly behind his union. Boy was he mistaken. . I'll bet hoofing it over the Brooklyn Bridge in 15 degree weather had something to do with it

HahnSolo Dec 22 2005 12:36 PM

Seawolf, one of the great tragedies of me working for a living is that I don't get my daily Barker's Beauties and Plinko fixes. Oh, and how could I forget the Yodeling guy.

Johnny Dickshot Dec 22 2005 12:54 PM

The Yodeling guy kicked ass. At a wedding reception in the basement of a Knights of Columbus Hall, some friends and I played the Yodeling game live: The contestant sat in the "stair chair" that traveled along the rail to go upstairs, and had to finish a beer before the chair arrived at the top, while everybody else yodeled.

Johnny Dickshot Dec 23 2005 11:18 AM

How about this crazy shit? Word is, a chick who works in another department here who was pregnant went into labor earlier than expected. But stuck because of the strike, her husband delivered at home! How scary is that?

ScarletKnight41 Dec 23 2005 11:19 AM

Considering that you have a little Dickshot on the way, I suspect that it's way scarier for you at this moment. How are mom and baby doing?

Johnny Dickshot Dec 23 2005 11:36 AM

Yeah, I can't imagine, and yet I can. Although it seems 4 out 5 babies born on television are born in cabs, trains and apartments, I don't think I've ever known anyone in real life who had such a birth.

ScarletKnight41 Dec 23 2005 11:42 AM

A friend of mine had her first baby in an ambulance. But she was the perfect person to have that kind of experience - she was thrilled that everything was all natural without any pain killers, etc.

Edgy DC Dec 23 2005 12:16 PM

My friend Paul delivered his baby on the bathroom floor. He lives in a tony neighborhood, and all the wimmens in the pickup line at school already thought his wife Sarah was a hippy freak for dellivering her first three babies "naturally" --- at a clinic, with a midwife, no anaesthesia. Now they think all think they're a family of savages. To hear them tell the story, they were terrified for a few minutes, then realized that everything was the same as before except for the setting. None of the other kids woke up. If Dickshot's baby arrives in the bathroom though, there'll be no "before," so don't let that happen, OK? It's God's way of punishing you for that smartassed handle you chose, you know that, right?

seawolf17 Dec 23 2005 01:19 PM

I think we're going to choose "hospital," Alex.

ScarletKnight41 Dec 23 2005 01:28 PM

A wise choice seawolf.