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IntrepidIsMe
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 Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:38 pm Millions struggle as transit strike ruled illegal |
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| Quote: | Millions struggle as transit strike ruled illegal
Mayor Bloomberg: The strike is 'unconscionable'
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Millions of New York commuters are preparing to battle their way home in near-freezing temperatures during a strike by transit workers, which Tuesday afternoon was ruled illegal by a judge.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg lashed out at union leaders for "thuggishly" turning their backs on the city, adding the strike could cost the city more than $400 million a day.
"You can't break the law and use that as a negotiating tactic," he said at an afternoon news conference. "This is unconscionable," he added.
Judge Theodore Jones ruled Tuesday afternoon that the Transport Workers Union was in contempt of two court injunctions ordering it not to strike, and he ordered that the union be fined $1 million per day beginning Tuesday
Bloomberg urged the union's 30,000-plus members to return to work as soon as possible, and drawing a hard line, said the city would not negotiate with the union until then.
The transit strike, the first in 25 years, shut downthe nation's largest public transportation system on Tuesday, less than a week before Christmas.
The strike brought to a grinding halt all Metropolitan Transportation Authority buses and subways throughout the city. The system averages about 7 million passengers on weekdays.
City officials have said a transit strike could cost the city $440 million to $660 million a day.
Bloomberg said the strike affects everything from the restaurant and hotel industries to working-class New Yorkers who could lose their jobs as a result of the strike.
"From what we have been able to learn, the economic consequences of the strike range from severe to devastating, depending on the business," he said.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority and city have responded by taking the union and its members to court with contempt proceedings.
Meanwhile, the international arms of two transit unions, facing contempt charges themselves, said at a court hearing Tuesday they opposed the strike and called it unauthorized.
Traffic clogged all of Manhattan's inbound bridges and tunnels early Tuesday in spite of a city mandate allowing only cars with four or more people entering the borough and traveling below 96th Street.
Schools started two hours late.
In announcing the work stoppage, Roger Toussaint, president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, said, "Transit workers are tired of being underappreciated and disrespected."
Among the chief grievances were the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's plans to require new transit workers to pay more for their health care.
One commuter said he sympathized with the transit workers, according to The Associated Press.
"I try to put myself in their shoes," Matthew Higgs told the AP. "The only way you can get what you want is to take a stand.
"These guys work every day. ... Why shouldn't their kids have good health care? Why shouldn't their kids be able to go to college?"
Another commuter was less generous.
"I think they all should get fired," Eddie Goncalves, a doorman trying to get home after his overnight shift, told the AP. He said he'll likely spend an extra $30 per day in cab and train fares, according to the AP.
The strike defies a court injunction issued last week as well as the Taylor Law, which forbids public employees from walking off the job. The law imposes a fine of two days' pay for each day of an illegal strike.
On Tuesday, the city filed additional injunction orders against the union, seeking damages of $1 million for the first day of the strike, doubling every day thereafter. It is also seeking $5 million in damages to compensate the city for the money it already has spent preparing for the strike.
The city also sought $25,000 fines for individual union members, doubling each day as well.
Bloomberg said earlier the union faces severe consequences.
The mayor joined hundreds of other New Yorkers as he walked across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan on Tuesday morning.
New York Gov. George Pataki chastised union members for "recklessly endangering the health and safety of each and every New Yorker."
Union's international arm doesn't approve
An attorney for the Transport Workers Union's international arm told a court in Brooklyn that the local's decision to strike was not approved -- and therefore unauthorized.
Attorney Peter DeChiara said Transport Workers Union International President Mike O'Brien attended the union vote overnight and urged Local 100 members not to strike.
Attorneys for the international arm of the Amalgamated Transit Union said the group did not authorize the strike either.
Arguing on behalf of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, State Assistant Attorney General James Henley said that the state will withdraw its contempt charges against the international arms of the unions if they officially were to notify the local that its strike is unauthorized.
DeChiara said the Transport Workers Union's international arm will post the message on its Web site and in its newspaper and issue a statement to the media.
No deal, no work
Hours before the strike, Toussaint, the local president, said transit workers were prepared to lower their wage increase demands from 8 percent to below 6 percent, if the Metropolitan Transportation Authority agreed to reduce the number of disciplinary actions launched against transit workers and grant other concessions.
The vote to reject the transit authority's contract offer was 28-10, with five abstentions, said Ainsley Stewart,a Transport Workers Union vice president.
Toussaint called on Pataki and Bloomberg to play a constructive role in negotiations and restore state and city funds to the mass transit budget. He said that state funding has gone from 20 percent a decade ago "to zero for capital funding."
CNN's Tom DiDonato and Tom Ziegler contributed to this report.
Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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Republican_Man
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| Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:49 pm |
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Yeah, this is horrible what the unions are doing. I know that a lot of unions aren't like this, but this only makes me dislike them even more. But yes, of course it's illegal.
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IntrepidIsMe
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| Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:51 pm |
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If anybody has ever been to NYC, then you know how much people depend on the public transportation. A strike that effects so many people so severely could really only damage your cause.
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"Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."
-Wuthering Heights
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Jeff Miller
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| Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:19 pm |
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| Republican_Man wrote: | | Yeah, this is horrible what the unions are doing. I know that a lot of unions aren't like this, but this only makes me dislike them even more. But yes, of course it's illegal. |
Big surprise you don't like them... anyway my family is union always have been does that make them wrong? I'm sorry I thought trying to get a better life was the american way, without unions alot of these big businesses would be holding down everyone to the lowest of wages. I say way to go NYC you forced them now they are striking I say that the officals try to meet them if not atleast halfway.
I also think its low for the mayor of NYC to use the word "Thugish" and who has the right to say what they are doing is illigal? Funny I thought this was the USA...
People derseve their fair share.
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Puck
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| Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:28 pm |
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| Jeff Miller wrote: | | Republican_Man wrote: | | Yeah, this is horrible what the unions are doing. I know that a lot of unions aren't like this, but this only makes me dislike them even more. But yes, of course it's illegal. |
Big surprise you don't like them... anyway my family is union always have been does that make them wrong? I'm sorry I thought trying to get a better life was the american way, without unions alot of these big businesses would be holding down everyone to the lowest of wages. I say way to go NYC you forced them now they are striking I say that the officals try to meet them if not atleast halfway.
I also think its low for the mayor of NYC to use the word "Thugish" and who has the right to say what they are doing is illigal? Funny I thought this was the USA...
People derseve their fair share. |
Hmm, so getting ahead by risking other peoples businesses and putting them out of jobs? Doesn't seem to go with the patriotic picture you are painting.
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Jeff Miller
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| Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:30 pm |
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I know.
I'm just saying people have the right to strike and by the looks of it, it's their last resort. I'm hoping that this gets fixed soon.
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Republican_Man
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| Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:35 pm |
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The Union's think they have the rights to so much power, status, in control in their businesses. The company my dad works for, Avaya, for instance, has union members that get positions WAY beyond what they deserve. This happens all across the country. Do they have the right to strike? Yes. But is it right, and is it right that they have so much control and what have you and do all these things that MOST unions do? (many don't, of course, but that's the majority) I don't think so. But that's just my opinion.
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Jeff Miller
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| Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:38 pm |
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I beg to differ the union where my mother works isn't like that at all its the company that is holding her down and the union is the ones trying to help her. I would hate to see what america would be like without them to help out.
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Republican_Man
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| Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:43 pm |
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| Jeff Miller wrote: | | I beg to differ the union where my mother works isn't like that at all its the company that is holding her down and the union is the ones trying to help her. I would hate to see what america would be like without them to help out. |
That's why I said many don't  I know that many unions are helpful, but not most of them, from what I've seen. Now, I could be wrong, but I don't like them. I know the son of the leader of the Western Division of the AFLCIO. I consider the kid a friend, but what the unions in the organization do is just wrong.
There are certain unions that are helpful and close to necessary for fair wages, etc. However, there are even more that are overzealous with their power and such. Heck, when my Grandpa worked at Freihoffers(sp?) until recently he was forced to be in the union, and he hated it--a lot of it because the money went to Democratic causes, and he's a big time Republican, but also because he didn't like it at all, for a number of other reasons.
But, then, there are unions like your mother's, Jeff, which may very well be good and helpful to the workers. And I say that as long as you're not forced into the union, and the union isn't one of the bad ones, more power to you.
Feel free to disagree. That's just how I see it.
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IntrepidIsMe
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| Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:43 pm |
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Unions are pretty annoying. You can't quickly and easily terminate people who are bad employees, and so instead they're simply promoted out of their positions and become a burden on the entire organization. But, if you aren't a Union employee, then you aren't a "team player" so you take *beep* for that, too.
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"Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."
-Wuthering Heights
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Republican_Man
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| Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:49 pm |
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Exactly. That's part of where I take my position. There are some unions that are fine, but most aren't. It's unfair to harder workers that those in the union, just because they're in the union, get higher positiions, etc. than they deserve. Not that one's taken a position over my dad, but he is a highly skilled member of the company and doesn't see it fair when others aren't, in unionized portions of the company, getting the positions that they deserve because those in the unions do.
And then you have this union, which is on such a large strike that it's hurting, what, MILLIONS of people? Not good.
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Theresa
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| Wed Dec 21, 2005 10:11 am |
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Unions used to be a great thing. Now? Pffft.
This stupid strike is actually affecting my job. And I'm in Maine.
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Republican_Man
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| Wed Dec 21, 2005 4:42 pm |
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| Quote: | NYC Steps Up Pressure on Transit Workers
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
NEW YORK � The city stepped up its pressure on striking transit workers Wednesday in hopes of forcing them back to work as millions of New Yorkers trudged to work in another bone-chilling commute without subways and buses.
Michael A. Cardozo, New York City's corporation counsel, said the city would ask a judge Wednesday to issue a temporary restraining order directing union members to return to work. If the order is granted, Cardoza said, the city could ask for the $25,000-a-day fines � a punishment that goes beyond the docked-pay penalty that workers already are experiencing for the illegal strike.
"We're doing everything possible to make the union obey the law," he said, adding that union members need to "realize the economic consequences of their actions."
According to various estimates by the city and business analysts, the strike was expected to cost city government and the economy hundreds of millions of dollars per day.
On Tuesday, a judge fined the Transport Workers Union $1 million for each day of the strike for violating a state law that bars public employees from striking. Union lawyer Arthur Schwartz said the fine could deplete the union's treasury in the matter of days.
Click here to read the N.Y. judge's order holding the TWU in contempt and fining it $1 million per day. (FindLaw pdf)
In addition, the TWU's 33,000 members already face the loss of two days pay for every day they are on strike, meaning a prolonged walkout could quickly eat up any increased pay they would get with a new contract.
Transit officials said about 1,000 transit workers crossed pickets Tuesday and were put to work cleaning and doing paperwork.
The two sides were scheduled to meet with a mediator again Wednesday.
The White House also spoke out on the strike Wednesday. "It is unfortunate. We hope that the two sides can resolve their differences so that the people in New York can get to where they need to go," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Crowds of pedestrians, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, bundled up in heavy coats, hats and mittens against the 24-degree temperature, and hiked across the Brooklyn Bridge into lower Manhattan on Wednesday. Volunteers waited with hot chocolate.
Some people had to walk miles. Others shared cabs and car pools, caught water taxis, biked, skated or hitchhiked.
"A nightmare, disorganized, especially going home," Aleksandra Radakovic said Wednesday morning in describing her commute.
Bloomberg urged the union to end the strike.
"All the transit workers have to do is listen to their international (union) that's urged them to go back to work, listen to the judge who ordered them back to work, and look at their families and their own economic interests," he said. "They should go back to work. Nobody's above the law, and everyone should obey the law."
The strike over wages and pensions began Tuesday morning, during the height of the Christmas shopping and tourist season.
Wednesday's headlines on the city's tabloid newspapers reflected the attitude of some commuters. "Mad as Hell," proclaimed the Daily News. "You Rats," the New York Post said of the striking transit workers.
Striker Bill McRae, a bus driver since 1985, said Wednesday he thought negotiations should have continued � but he still backed the walkout.
"The union executives called for a strike, and we have to do what we have to do," McRae said on Manhattan's West Side.
Police reported only two minor incidents related to the strike. A cab driver was arrested for allegedly assaulting a woman in his cab in an argument over the fare, causing minor injuries. A police officer was accidentally bumped by a truck at a traffic checkpoint.
New York retailers, restaurants and bars are expected to bear much of the brunt of the strike. The week before Christmas historically accounts for up to 20 percent of many stores' holiday sales, and consumers who must pay higher taxi fares or face long walks could reduce their spending.
The union said the latest MTA offer included annual pay raises of 3 percent, 4 percent and 3.5 percent. Pensions were another major sticking point in the talks, particularly involving new employees.
In its last offer before negotiations broke down, the MTA had proposed increasing employee contributions to the pension plan from 2 percent to 6 percent, said union lawyer Walter Meginniss Jr. He added that such a change would be "impossible" for the union to accept.
"Were it not for the pension piece, we would not be out on strike," union president Roger Toussaint said in an interview with NY1. "All it needs to do is take its pension proposal off the table."
The International TWU, the union's parent, urged the local not to go on strike. Its president, Michael O'Brien, reiterated Tuesday that the striking workers were legally obligated to resume working. The only way to a contract, he said, is "not by strike but continued negotiation."
The nation's largest mass transit system counts each fare as a rider, giving it more than 7 million riders each day � although many customers take a daily round trip.
Source |
I must say that I, not being a big fan of Bloomberg, am QUITE impressed with how he's been acting in this situation. He's handled it very well. I'm glad that the union is getting what's coming to them--and what it deserves.
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Hitchhiker
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| Wed Dec 21, 2005 7:00 pm |
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I'm not quite sure why it's illegal (I am not debating this point, because obviously a judge has ruled it, but I'd like to point out that the articles are a bit ambiguous. They say it runs contrary to a few laws and some injunctions, but otherwise don't go into too much detail with that).
It's interesting how we've become slaves to a fictional system based on the theoretical distribution of numbers. 
I was listening to some news about this on the radio . . . even the media doesn't like them. I must agree that shutting down the transit system in New York City seems a bit harsh, considering the population size. However, the root cause of the issue should still be addressed regardless, or more incidents such as these are likely to occur.
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Republican_Man
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| Wed Dec 21, 2005 9:31 pm |
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Doesn't mean that their any bit unselfish. This is very selfish of them. I completely agree with Bloomberg. Maybe there are underlying issues that need to be worked out, but it's not going to do them any good now.
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robbiewebster
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| Thu Dec 22, 2005 12:14 am |
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My boss' brother came to Rochester from Delaware on an Amtrac train. He had to stop in NYC to switch trains. He was delayed 6 hours because of the chaos created by the strike.
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Republican_Man
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| Thu Dec 22, 2005 12:16 am |
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Now that just sucks. See what these people are doing in all their selfishness? Yeah, the union's doing everyone real good.
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Jeff Miller
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| Thu Dec 22, 2005 6:29 pm |
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Uh huh all I got to say is this. The Rich get richer and the poor get poorer (SP).
Think of it like that.
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Theresa
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| Fri Dec 23, 2005 12:08 am |
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All that really fits here is, "LMAO!"
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Republican_Man
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| Fri Dec 23, 2005 7:08 pm |
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It's done. Thank God. They didn't deserve a contract.
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webtaz99
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| Fri Dec 23, 2005 10:25 pm |
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<sarcasm>
Yeah, it's a good thing that the workers are going to have to make sacrafices just to ensure their pensions.
</sarcasm>
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Republican_Man
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| Fri Dec 23, 2005 11:21 pm |
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Oh, I'm sorry. I was under the impression that NO city employee (well, almost none--police, firefighters, transit, etc) had contracts or pensions. I was under the impression that there are thirty people waiting to get the jobs of these strikers for EVERY PERSON. I was under the impression that these jobs are more paying than other cities, and a good deal more than private busworkers. I was under the impression that these jobs were actually good jobs compared to the others that they might get. But I guess that my impressions were wrong, and therefore they deserve a contract (like almost no other city employee like them ACROSS THE COUNTRY) and all those things. 
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