NYC Transit Strike

[jaerdaph]

So, how are my fellow EN World New Yorkers dealing with the transit strike?

I live in Astoria Queens and walked yesterday morning to the Queensboro/59th Street Bridge. You needed four people in a vehicle to be allowed on the bridge so I got in a mini van with a nice couple. A couple of blocks later we found a fouth and got over the bridge in no time. There was barely any traffic because everyone brought there car to be the driver and nobody wanted to be a passenger! They were headed uptown so they dropped me off at East 57th and Third Ave. I walked up to 7th Ave and down to West 34th.

Last night I walked from 34th and Seventh to Second Ave and walked up to East 59th. I had a hot dinner and then made the trek across the 59th Street Bridge on foot.

The city skyline sure looks beautiful at night during the holidays. It really took a lot of the stress/edge off the trip and the day for myself and my fellow walkers. It was a nice feeling despite the cold.

Today I (supposedly) have a ride from some friends and neighbors that work at Martha Stewart.

Here we go - Day Number 2!

 

[Truth Seeker]

Right now, this is sorrowing my Christmas and killing my tip gifts at my job.

Cost on traveling is now $18.00 per day, instead of using my metrocard.

 

[BOZ]

man, sucks to be in NYC right about now! hope the strike ends quickly (undoubtedly, it won't take long before one side or the other buckles under the pressure).

i could imagine that being just as un-fun here in chicago!

 

[jaerdaph]

Well, I'm working from home today - thank goodness for VPNs.

My ride went out last night and really partied it up and called in sick. Wasn't to happy about that, but hey.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

I haven't lived in NYC for several years, but I feel for you guys.

This is from a blog of a friend of a friend. Interesting perspective on the strike, not that perspectives help you who are stuck dealing with the problems.

(Her name is Eleanor, BTW, which will make a few of her statements about her name make sense)

Not a political rant about my city’s transportation
Everyone knows that I don’t talk about politics. Much. If you want to read political analysis, there are many places where people write about it beautifully. This place is about how one redhead sees the world.

My name is a flashing neon sign indicating the politics of my parents*. I was raised by New Deal Democrats, which is not quite the same as being raised by wolves, although I suspect it would have been quite similar if I’d ever backed the “wrong” candidate. I was taught to never cross a picket line, and that even if you don’t agree with striking workers, nobody ever strikes unless they’re pretty unhappy and feel that their back is pushed against the wall, in a bad way.

I was taught to be nice to the butcher, polite to the grocer, respectful to the school janitor, and to never, ever look down at the train conductor or the taxi driver. I was taught that the jobs some people do allow other people’s worlds to keep spinning around.

Raise your hand if you’re a civil servant or municipal worker. That’s what I thought; there aren’t many of you out there. The thing is that nobody ever takes a civil service test thinking that path is the one to riches, and nobody ever takes a city job because it is the most glamorous one available. People takes those tests and take those jobs because they offer a good and real and sensible choice: the opportunity to make a steady wage and support a family, good solid benefits, and work that at the end of the day means something. If you didn’t think the guy in the token booth has a job that means something and you live in New York City, you sure do now.

Here’s the thing: a deal was on the table. The Transit Workers Union was happy with it. At the last minute, a strike was about to be averted. That’s when Peter Kalikow entered the picture. When negotiations were all but complete, when it was already time for the union to report to their executive board, he threw one last demand on the table; a mandatory 6% of new worker’s salary’s towards their pensions.

Before you tell me that you don’t have a pension plan or that it doesn’t seem bad, let’s review one point: these are civil service jobs. People take these jobs because of the steady benefits. OK, a second point; Kalikow made a last-minute demand and was not negotiating in good faith. In fact, some things I’ve read suggest that he might not have been acting within the law as it applies to labor negotiations, but really, I wouldn’t know.

Wait, there is a third point: The amount that 6% would have saved the city over the duration of the to-be-signed contract is significantly less than the strike is costing the city now.

A person could draw many conclusions from these points, but if that person was raised by New Deal Democrats, she is forced to conclude first that it is the MTA, not the TWU, that is holding the city hostage before Christmas.

There are many other things that I could say, about a mayor who lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and works in lower Manhattan but is repeatedly photographed on the Brooklyn Bridge. About the unbalanced coverage of the press, which would have you believe that this strike is about “greedy” workers wanting higher salaries. About that 6% and what it means to the future of municipal workers in particular and class issues in general. But you can draw your own conclusions, and they might even be very different from mine.

*It’s possible that my parents were fans of English history, or even Katherine Hepburn, but I was named for Roosevelt, not Aquitaine.

 

[Ranger REG]

Heh. For Hoffa's kids, it's a strategic move to put the strike near the holiday rush to piss everyone off toward the government. Happened here in Honolulu two years ago. Now I gotta cough up $40 for a monthly buss pass and the service haven't improved.

A warning for Hawaii's Frugal Tourists: Don't take the bus. It ain't worth the $2 fare.