On my personal One-Day-Strike now!

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

For those of you who don't know, there's a transit strike in New York today, so I've seen it fit to strike for the day too. There's no way in hell I'm going to drag my ass to school, fuc*ing City University and my college in particular are nuts. They want us to get to college no matter what.

I'll be basking in my rebelliousness until tomorrow now . Tomorrow is another day, and I'll be going 'cause I have finals, but for the moment F@!$ City University.

PS and F@&* my college too.

[Acid King]

Eh, that's unions for you. Shit like this is bound to happen every so often. Technically it's illegal for NYC transit workers to strike, they get fined 2 days pay for every day they strike... I wonder how this will turn out.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

The last strike was 25 years ago and lasted for 11 days. I hope the dastards get back to work soon for the sake of sanity because I don't want to be catching overpriced rides (car pools, taxis, etc) that I don't even know how to take or don't have the money to pay. I heard the news, and it seems pretty bad out there. People almost running into each other to get into cars and filling 'em to the floors, hordes of people bycicling, walking, etc.

[Neo Rasa]

They said this might go on for about nine days or so.

Enjoy New Years Eve with no NY Transit.

[beatifik]

this shit is absurd.

i want to drive the trains myself. it can't be THAT hard...

instead, i'll be riding my bike over the williamsburg bridge tomorrow morning to get to work. i hope it snows!

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Jeebus. I finally found a way to get to school, but it'll have me running around the city like a freakin' rat in a maze. What sucks even more is that I'll have to get outta home about three hours before my class starts to allow time to get there. Did I mention I'll have to walk a ridiculous distance too? Probably more than 45 minutes.

Grrrrrrr . Those sneaky union freaks, choosing right before my tests to strike.

[Shatterhand]

Why are they doing the strike? What are they asking?

I really can't understand people who are against workers doing a strike... strike is a legal right of a worker to claim for his rights....

In the other hand, here in Rio de Janeiro, the bus drivers (Buses are a very common transport way, even for short distances) only strike to get better salaries, and then the owners of the buses company raise the ticket price (That's probably how it works in the rest of the country). It's really annoying that when they do a strike, the next day their demands are fullfilled and we get a raise in the ticket, but when public teachers strike, the govern take AGES to deal, leaving lots of children without classes for months. (Once I had 110 days without classes because of that..... teacher's salaries were 7 years out of date, and the govern still didn't want to raise their salaries... there was a teacher in my school which had his life threatened because he had taken a loan with a mob or something to pay his day-to-day debts and couldn't afford to pay back)

[Acid King]

Why are they doing the strike? What are they asking?

I really can't understand people who are against workers doing a strike... strike is a legal right of a worker to claim for his rights....

In the other hand, here in Rio de Janeiro, the bus drivers (Buses are a very common transport way, even for short distances) only strike to get better salaries, and then the owners of the buses company raise the ticket price (That's probably how it works in the rest of the country). It's really annoying that when they do a strike, the next day their demands are fullfilled and we get a raise in the ticket, but when public teachers strike, the govern take AGES to deal, leaving lots of children without classes for months. (Once I had 110 days without classes because of that..... teacher's salaries were 7 years out of date, and the govern still didn't want to raise their salaries... there was a teacher in my school which had his life threatened because he had taken a loan with a mob or something to pay his day-to-day debts and couldn't afford to pay back)

Well, what's ridiculous is that they chose NOW, the busiest time of year, to strike. Why couldn't they wait a few weeks til the new year? They'd still cripple the city but it'd be a bit more forgivable. I say bring on the scabs!

[BulletMagnet]

Why are they doing the strike? What are they asking?

I haven't been following super-closely, but there are a few things that the two sides are arguing over...one of them, IIRC, is that up till now the union didn't have to fork out a piece of its paycheck for its health insurance coverage (apparently transit workers in most other cities already have to), but now they are being told to. I think there's also some sort of salary increase being debated...the "big" thing, that seems to have broken the camel's back, though, is that the MTA apparently reported a sizable surplus in the budget, and seems to be determined to spend it without giving any to its employees (IIRC they recently instituted a temporary fare decrease for the holiday season which even many commuters think is frivolous). Something along those lines...

I really can't understand people who are against workers doing a strike... strike is a legal right of a worker to claim for his rights....

Not for NYC workers, apparently...every single time you hear the mayor, the governor, the MTA, etc. comment on the strike, they make sure to call it "illegal." I believe they recently went to a judge about it...IIRC the union itself is fined a million bucks a day as long as the strike lasts, and the individual workers lose two days pay for every day they're off the job. Let's face it, those currently in power around here have been waiting for their chance to roll back gains made in workers' rights ever since the 30's,
among other things, and frankly, who's gonna stop 'em? Striking's not a right anymore, for better or for worse. In any event, I only know the basics of the whole fiasco, so I really can't take sides with much confidence, though merely the fact that a strike can be called "illegal," not even over whether it's justified or not but simply because it's a strike, sort of sends a chill down my spine...

...but when public teachers strike, the govern take AGES to deal, leaving lots of children without classes for months.

Well, of course, who the devil gives a rat's arse about teachers? They're there for us to complain about when our taxes go up for any reason whatsoever (greedy bastards!), and then complain about again once their funding is cut further (at our request) and our children aren't being adequately educated.

[neorichieb1971]

Good luck on day 2.

Bad time for strikes aint it.

[Ghegs]

Well, what's ridiculous is that they chose NOW, the busiest time of year, to strike. Why couldn't they wait a few weeks til the new year? They'd still cripple the city but it'd be a bit more forgivable. I say bring on the scabs!

Looking at it from another angle it makes perfect sense. Having the strike now creates a lot more pressure to the opposing side to meet their demands so that the city can return to status quo in time for the holidays. The strikers want to show just how necessary and needed their job is. That point wouldn't be driven home if they had it on the slowest time of the year.

[D]

The mayor of New York should step down.
He failed.

He is responsible.
Aonther financial crisis is just what the US needed?
440 to 660 mil a day loss?

what about the strikers then? they get fined two days pay or one day strike?

It's the government/city of new york/major/union who should be blamed, not the people who are striking.

Do you honestly think they want to piss everybody off and get fined and at the least not get payed that day?
NO!


I'd write more, but sometimes I think that nobody cares about my views.

I still feel bad for you ny'ers.

[D]

Shmuppers do it in TATE.

eh.............by what ever do you mean by that?
Against the wall then? whut? How can I be a true shmupper then?
Show me the light

[Acid King]

Well, what's ridiculous is that they chose NOW, the busiest time of year, to strike. Why couldn't they wait a few weeks til the new year? They'd still cripple the city but it'd be a bit more forgivable. I say bring on the scabs!

Looking at it from another angle it makes perfect sense. Having the strike now creates a lot more pressure to the opposing side to meet their demands so that the city can return to status quo in time for the holidays. The strikers want to show just how necessary and needed their job is. That point wouldn't be driven home if they had it on the slowest time of the year.

It makes perfect sense in that they are going to piss off the millions and millions of new yorkers like UFO. The point would still be driven home if they waited, it's not like the mass transit system is any less necessary any other time of year, it's just that now it's hitting full capacity and makes it obvious that they don't care about the welfare of the city and are just looking for leverage to get what they want. Doing it now does increase their leverage, but is it really worth the backlash they face for appearing so inconsiderate and selfish?

[Acid King]

The mayor of New York should step down.
He failed.

He is responsible.
Aonther financial crisis is just what the US needed?
440 to 660 mil a day loss?

what about the strikers then? they get fined two days pay or one day strike?

It's the government/city of new york/major/union who should be blamed, not the people who are striking.

Do you honestly think they want to piss everybody off and get fined and at the least not get payed that day?
NO!


I'd write more, but sometimes I think that nobody cares about my views.

I still feel bad for you ny'ers.

Why would you put all the blame on the mayor and city? There are two parties at the bargaining table. You can't pin it all on one party like that.

[Neo Rasa]

The Mayor (who has been pretty bad so far IMO) and NY Transit management is a LITTLE more to blame than the union in this instance, though overall it silly stubborness on both sides that caused this to be put off until now. Ideally most unions/executive officers would have new contracts ironed out several months prior to the current one's expiration date, so there's no need for this sort of stuff.

Picking up my girlfriend today to get her out of the city ASAP, due to the lack of a subway and busses "commute" to work just got to the point where she'd be losing money by going.

Acid King D does say outright that he blames both the city of New York and the union, so he basically has all the bases covered.

[Acid King]

The Mayor (who has been pretty bad so far IMO) and NY Transit management is a LITTLE more to blame than the union in this instance, though overall it silly stubborness on both sides that caused this to be put off until now. Ideally most unions/executive officers would have new contracts ironed out several months prior to the current one's expiration date, so there's no need for this sort of stuff.

Picking up my girlfriend today to get her out of the city ASAP, due to the lack of a subway and busses "commute" to work just got to the point where she'd be losing money by going.

Acid King D does say outright that he blames both the city of New York and the union, so he basically has all the bases covered.

It's stubbornness on both sides that always leads to these things. I see where he says the union and the mayor are to be blamed, not those on strike, it's the "mayor should step down" because he "failed" and "he is responsible" bit that I was contesting.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

I'm more pissed at my college for continuing classes even though 80% of people get there using public transportation. Good my cousin offered to drive me to school in the morning but returning home was a pain. I had to walk over the Manhattan bridge and catch a van in Chinatown. It was a rip-off (5 bucks) too, and it dumped me like a mile from home. I'd say I walked three or more miles in total today.

[BulletMagnet]

Bad time for strikes aint it.

IIRC the season had nothing to do with it: the workers' contract simply expired around this time.

Actually, I think the contracts expired last Friday, and the strike was originally set to happen then, but they delayed it (or at least most of it, I think a few lines stopped running) to try to work something out again, but it still didn't happen, so then everything stopped.

[D]

The mayor of New York should step down.
He failed.

You can't pin it all on one party like that.

I just did.
He is responsible.
The city is losing 440-660 mil right?
That should've been prevented at all cost!

People who strike are unhappy.
They work in NY.
Major is responsible.
Same with companies the big boss is responsible.

Perhaps the NY transit management is responsible too.
The mayor let this happen though.

Is it resolved already?
Giving them their demands would've had a smaller financial impact than this strike....

Right?
BANG there it is.

[BulletMagnet]

Giving them their demands would've had a smaller financial impact than this strike....

According to a bit of subtext on the NYT front cover yesterday...

At first, several issues divided Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union and the Metropolitan Transit Authority in their contract talks. But in the end, negotiations collapsed late Monday over one issue: pensions. The authority made an 11th-hour demand that new workers contribute 6 percent of their wages to their pension funds, up from 2 percent for current workers, a position that Roger Toussant, president of local 100, said the union could not accept. And for all the rage and bluster that followed, a costly strike for New York City was called over a plan what would have saved the transit authority less than $20 million over the next three years.

In today's Op-Ed page, a reader from Boston writes in about the irony of the situation in light of less-important news in the past day or two: he compares the fact that George Steinbrenner can move one man (namely Johnny Damon) from Boston to New York for over 50 million dollars, while the city can't move its millions of citizens for less than 20.

[Fighter17]

Thank god I don't live in NYC anymore, my father was getting like 20 car tickets per year.

[Acid King]

I just did.
He is responsible.
The city is losing 440-660 mil right?
That should've been prevented at all cost!

People who strike are unhappy.
They work in NY.
Major is responsible.
Same with companies the big boss is responsible.

Perhaps the NY transit management is responsible too.
The mayor let this happen though.

Is it resolved already?
Giving them their demands would've had a smaller financial impact than this strike....

Right?
BANG there it is.

So a mayor/CEO should always cave to every demand a union makes? That's ludicrous. While doing so may have averted the strike and saved some money now, depending on the sticking points of the contract, giving them everything they wanted may cost more in the long run. The union wanted to lower the age needed for full pension benefits from 62 to 55, which they got. When the MTA wanted to have new hires donate a little more of their checks to help out with pension costs, the union said no and walked out. It's stubbornness on both sides that's causing it. Pinning it all on one side is a grotesque simplification of reality.

[oxtsu]

The MTA showed bad faith when it asked for arbitration very early in the negotiations. The contract was expired, yet the union members continued working. They've always had the retirment age at 55. The MTA wanted to change it just now to 62 for new hires and up the worker contributions three fold. This is not needed in the current times, seeing as the agency is 1 billion $ in the black. For the workers, I suspect they are getting disrespected in the workplace as well (by management), adding fuel to fire.

The law against public workers striking in NY state is written by testicle grabbing CEO types (George Bush's corporate ladder). If they had it their way, all striking activity (i.e. organized labor) in the nation would be outlawed, and the rest of the 'non-essential' jobs would be outsourced to improve the silver spoon set's bottom line. A little civil disobedience is in order.