Does anyone else have torn feelings due to the NYC Transit Worker Strike??

[DemGirl7]

By this I mean, that they support unions and their right to strike, but at the same time they feel that there could be good reasons why in this case, that they shouldn't be on strike? I'm in the middle on this issue because, I want to side with the transit workers, they have a good reason to strike, but at the same I look at all that has been left in its wake. The International Transit Workers Union itself says that its illegal, and this strike is causing more traffic jams than usual, which is not good if there is emergency like a fire or something,and it is not responded to rightaway, if it happens the transit workers are going to get bad press. And now that that judge has ruled that they are to be fined everyday they are on strike,if it goes on for a few more days they could become bankrupt, with this are they really accomplishing anything? Millions upon millions of people depend on the transit system to get work, which may be in a whole other part of the city far from where they live, and the cabs are expensive in which some people may be spending their whole paychecks on. With this strike, the public may lose faith in unions, and become anti-union.It's really hard to choose a side on it, I want to support a unions right to strike, but at the same time I see reason why this strike is bad for the public and the transit workers themselves. Does anyone anyone esle feel this way??

[Maddy McCall]

1. The public is already anti-union.

Workers have to do what is right for them, not for popular opinion. The whole point of any strike is to make things difficult and uncomfortable for the employer, after all other means to come to terms have been exhausted.

I am 100% behind the striking union.

[Warpy]

3. I'm also 100% with the union, but having experienced a transit

strike, I can also sympthise with people who have to walk or bike long distances to work versus sit in gridlock traffic for hours to get there, with retailers who aren't making sales this season (and retailers rely on them to tide them over the rest of the year) and I'm also in sympathy with the strikers who are not going to get paychecks this time of year.

It's a terrible situation for everybody but Bloomberg, who looks like he's enjoying waving his dick around, and the MTA board, men who get to look like tough businessmen when they're a bunch of corrupt sleazeballs who have lined their pockets for decades on the backs of the workers.

Know who the bad guys really are in this situation. You can still sympathise with all the people caught in the middle.

[CarolNYC]

15. Oh, I'm living through this transit strike now...

...and your post really sums up my feelings. This is bad for everyone, including those on strike, especially at this time of year.

Pataki and Bloomberg both have been dicks about this from start to finish.

No doubt the MTA will hike the fares again and then find another huge surplus hiding on some secret set of books....

[NYC Liberal]

22. Have you tried taking a cab yet?

I spent $70 and 3+ hours in cabs today going from lower Manhattan to 42nd street and back.

[G2099]

25. Try sticking out you thumb

There are a lot of drivers who are willing to pick up people who look decent. Try it tomorrow and let us know what happened.

[NYC Liberal]

26. I got cabs right away, drivers were very friendly.

It's the traffic and the fares that were the problems.

[CarolNYC]

27. That should not happen

Here, go here, and print out the .pdf zone map at this link and take it with you next time you take a cab....
http://www.nyc.gov/html/transitinfo/pdfs/Taxi_Zones_20051214.pdf

They are supposed to charge no more than $10 for one zone and $5 for each after that...All of Manhattan is 4 zones total. From top to bottom, they can't charge you more than $25.

I've only taken cabs above 96th Street...I had no idea what the fare was the first time but that guy was solid and told me $10. The next guy, last night, asked me how much it was supposed to be and accepted my $10. The guy tonight tried to tell me it was really $15 but he'd let me go for $10...but I told him I had the zone chart and he was wrong....He was OK though.

This AM some good samaritans offered me a ride to midtown for free...We went down Columbus and 9th and there was no traffic...It was great....

[NYC Liberal]

30. I know; I checked that before I left.

However, I *knew* that they would do it even though they weren't supposed to because they know people have to get places and so they will pay.

[progressivebydesign]

2. You should find the NY Daily News editorial today.. about the strike.

It's an eye opener. Can't remember where I found it... or if it was penned by the paper or a columnist, but it truly backs up those of us with torn feelings about this. SOme are so blinded by the pro-union theme that they cannot see the problems with this strike. Okay.. here's the link: http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/376626p-319845c.html It was linked below the story about how this strike is devastating the City's blood supplies right now... Not the way to garner public support for your cause.

[robbedvoter]

13. Oh, what a shock! The media tries to discredit the union!

And it's not even a Bloomberg outlet - just one he bought the support of - after merciless attacks in 2001! yeah, I'll take my cues from the media - and then, I'll go worship the BFEE and pray their spying brings them happiness and joy!

[bowens43]

4. I'm not torn .

The transit system had a billion dollar surplus and they want to screw the new workers. I hope they stay out until they get everything they want. If things in New York are so bad then the leadership needs to stop their huffing and puffing and posturing and get their asses to the negotiating table.

[me b zola]

5. No, not me

The history of workers rights is one of great sacrifice and bloodshed. We and the rest of the industrialized world did not come into safe & sane working conditions out of thin air--it came from blood. No American should be without this knowledge.

I learned about worker rights & the history of labor unions long before there were computers. I was doing a paper for school and ended up researching old newspapers that were kept in the library. The truth about our history is out there, you must be interested enough to seek it out.

[90-percent]

6. uhhh?

actually, i heard on npr what they want is kind of lavish...the new workers should get all the bennies and salaries and retirements of the long time workers. I'm in favor of the concept of unions as practiced in the 30's, but this seems kind of excessive. when you start a job, you expect to start near the bottom and work your way up over time, right? If I was an old timer, I'd resent new young people with less skills making the same as me on their first day of work.

the surplus should be saved for a rainy day when the money is needed for maintenance or new equipment.

-85%

[Peace Patriot]

14. NPR is corporate-controlled (and these days, heavily pressured by

the Bush junta, as well), and is undoubtedly completely misrepresenting the workers' case. As I understand it, management is trying to cut new workers OUT of the package of benefits the workers hired prior to them are entitled to. For instance, older workers can retire with full pensions after 25 years, but new workers would have to wait 30 years. That is totally unfair--especially given a highly profitable transit system. The main issue is benefits and pensions (and the fairness of them--the equal application to new workers), not salaries.

[me b zola]

33. ?

The owner class will always convey that the working class demands are "lavish". When coporate America recieved their share of the American treasury via the "economic stimulus package" (off-shore tax shelters+++), voted in shortly after 911, the CEO's continued to up their saleries & bonuses to astronomical numbers while continuing to cut back on workers saleries, benifits, & pensions. While the transit workers are indeed city workers, it is all the same issue. Workers deserve the right to a living wage, benifits, and a pension.


Doesn't it all sound a bit like "look at all of those welfare queens driving cadilacs"???? Meanwhile corporate welfare has plundered the treasury and now we borrow from countries that our government wants us to be afraid of. WTF is that about????

[Egalitariat]

7. How many union members can't get to work b/c 30K transit workers

are on an illegal strike?

[beckajane14]

9. Or how many

non-union workers...say the janitors in the buildings of New York that live in Jersey that can't get to work? Then they might get fired.

[robbedvoter]

11. Thanks for signing up on DU to represent the NJ janitors. I'm series.

Other interesting sights on DU:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5655388

[beckajane14]

36. okay?what is that supposed to mean?

I'm not representing NJ janitors, but the strike does hurt a lot of people. I don't think anyone can deny that.

[robbedvoter]

10. Nice use of the Faux logo there. This is Hugh111

Sophistry doesn't cut it here.

[Spiffarino]

34. No kiding!! OMG!!!1

[Spiffarino]

32. Illegal strike.

That really sticks in my fucking craw. There was a time when any strike was illegal and the law was enforced by Pinkertons. That shit only held up until the members came to the realization that they had to buck the system and say to Hell with their unjust laws. The strikers took up arms and fought back because they realized that the laws were unfair. The NYC transit workers came to the same realization.

To Hell with their unjust laws. There used to be laws against marrying across racial divides. Just because it's a law doesn't make it right.

STRIKE!

[robbedvoter]

8. Not at all torn. Billionaire pigs trying to extort working people.

As for the good people caught in between - I can only wonder: how many of them bothered to vote this November? Bloomberg - who is Enronizing the city - got in there BY DEFAULT . He got LESS votes than last time - press "landslide" chants notwithstanding. NY-ers didn't bother to vote. Payback time.

[two gun sid]

12. I have never been in doubt about this strike...

and the judge and the International can go fuck off. This local deemed it proper to strike and I support them.

If the NYC government and the MTA are truly concerned about the people of NY being inconvienced they could have averted this strike by bargaining in good faith. Instead, they chose to force the issue and to hell with the working class.

Solidarity Forever!
Direct Action Gets The Goods !

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

16. Kudos to being brave enough to be so honest

I feel quite similarly to you and know that some that have expressed the same have been lashed out at. I give you total credit for coming out so honestly and sincerely and stating your case.

It's all good. There is never a each time every time have to support strikes no matter what doctrine anywhere, so feel free to sometimes disagree with a labor strike without guilt if you truly believe it isn't the right thing :)

[Celeborn Skywalker]

17. No torn feelings for me.

I'm union all the way.

[AllieB]

18. No. I support the union 100%.

It's management's fault.

[DenaliDemocrat]

19. Dear God we have earned the shitty things the Republicans do to us

In all honesty, I hate to be so rude. My grandfather, my uncle, my best friend, all DEAD. My dad and mom were poor for years because they would not give my mom a teaching job because my dad was the teachers union represenative.

Blacklung from working in coal mines. THEY knew what Unions were about. When the grocery unions struck, they struck too. When the teachers unions went on strike, they went on strike too. They sufferred, their kids did without Christmas presents....everyone stood together.

You all whine and moan like a bunch of prissy little schoolgirls because the traffic is bad, when the truth is, you should be out there picketing them as well, refusing to ride, whatever. It is for the GOOD of all.

UNITED WE STAND, DIVDED WE FALL!!!

THAT is our problem as democrats, we hate to be inconvenienced, and the Republicans fuck us. They fuck our salaries, they fuck our pensions, they fuck our medical benefits. That is why today, Medicare, Medicaid, and loans to college students just got cut.

Don't support the Unions, fine. Don't bitch when all your kid can do is get a job at WalMart because the engineering jobs have been outsourced to India and Safeway and FredMeyer had to close because they could not be competetive.

[NYC Liberal]

20. I was supporting this strike before, but enough is enough

It's time for both sides to sit down and actually compromise. I took a cab today from lower Manhattan up to 42nd Street and it cost me 30 dollars with 4 others in the cab, and it took me 45 minutes to get CLOSE to there - I just got out and walked when we were almos there the traffic was so bad. And then coming home, it was another 40 dollars and took nearly TWO HOURS. The cab drivers were none too happy as well because they weren't using the meter and were on dual fare with the zoning system. This isn't about convenience, it's costing a LOT of MONEY for people.

But neither side is willing to sit down and COMPROMISE which is what they should be doing. They both have what they want in mind and won't budge. One side is going to have to start the compromise; I just wonder which side it'll be.

[DenaliDemocrat]

21. You know what side it will be

but it could be the other side, IF the teachers would strike as well, AND the janitors, AND the grocery workers, AND the electricians, AND the plumbers.....


If we did it like the old days, this shit would be over ASAP. But we punk out because it's inconvenient to affect our lives to help our union brothers. So we don't and we get screwed.

[Lars39]

29. I wish I could find my link to a story about a nation wide strike

in the Netherlands(?). Once one group declared a strike, the entire country went on strike, iirc. They didn't want the government or the private industry to get too complacent. The people knew their power was in numbers shutting the country down. Everyone sacrificed so that everyone could keep their bargaining power.

[robbedvoter]

23. No, you weren't from the get go - you posted on the NY site

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=169x4954#4957
Your post is as deceitful as your name.
It's quite clear that Bloomberg is looking for a power play - not a compromise - see the names he calls them and the extra demand the MTA put in the last minute. The union would end it if they give that one up - but they won't, because this is a political play to silence a militant union and intimidate the others.

[NYC Liberal]

28. Excuse me, but that is not my post.

That is "ny_liberal"; I am "NYC Liberal"

[Peace Patriot]

24. I'm 100% pro-union and pro-worker. Strikes are hard on everyone,

but mostly on the STRIKING WORKERS THEMSELVES. They do not take on this hardship lightly in BushWorld. This is their ONLY means of asserting their rights in situations where management has been smug, corrupt and unfair. If workers decide to strike, they have damn good reason to do so. The inconvenience to individuals of a day or a week, or even many weeks, is a minor thing--an annoyance that quickly disappears into the ongoing stream of one's life--compared to the RIGHT TO STRIKE, an absolutely essential and sacred right, if workers are not to become mere SLAVES, as our corporate rulers would like us to be.

And do bear in mind that we are getting relentlessly flooded with corporate propaganda, and that these corporate propagandists have had the intention of busting the American labor movement since Reagan (who busted the Air Traffic Controllers' union--one of the most abominable events of the 1980s).

We mustn't allow ourselves to become a bunch of sheep and whiners--or let ourselves take our own frustration at the state of oppression we find ourselves in, at the hands of these bastards, out on other workers, who are fighting for their own rights AND for ours. Do we want to live in a country in which yet another union is busted? And if you're in New York City and can't buy the normal Christmas presents, why not give your kids the best gift you could give them--a country in which workers cannot be messed with by management--and support the transit workers, and tell your kids WHY, and hold Christmas LATER, hopefully as a celebration of the transit workers' victory.

[Spiffarino]

31. Stick with the Union

I've had it with union-busting at any level. It's time to kick some ass. The city is using its media cronies the same way every government agency and corporation has for 25 or more years when workers begin demanding a fair wage; they try to turn the general population against the strikers.

Don't stand for it. However it inconveniences you, however it makes your life harder, put yourself in their shoes. The city is attempting to destroy workers' rights with an unfair two-tiered system aimed at turning jobs that pay a decent wage into jobs that wouldn't earn enough to pay rent on a studio apartment in the NY area.

Make no mistake. This is a front line in the right wing's war on labor.

[Dorian Gray]

35. Yes, DemGirl.

I do. I see the good and bad in it. It's definitely hard on our city, not to mention a lot of people who depend on the transit in our city.