NYC Subway and Bus Strike

Discussion in 'Politics & Current Events' started by Matt in the Hat, Dec 20, 2005.

  1. VOwithwater

    VOwithwater New Member

    Oct 17, 2005
    A young Lawyer friend was complaining that he has to take a cab to his office to pick up his Christmas bonus check. He lives a whole 40 blocks from his office. He is expecting apx 140 thousand for his bonus that poor slob don't you feel sorry for him?
     
  2. VOwithwater

    VOwithwater New Member

    Oct 17, 2005
    Try asking them for a small loan then let me know if they say yes.
     
  3. MasterShake29

    MasterShake29 Member+

    Oct 28, 2001
    Jersey City, NJ
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Since I work for the State of New Jersey, if NJ ever runs a surplus then I should get a share of that? Cool beans.
     
  4. Matt in the Hat

    Matt in the Hat Moderator
    Staff Member

    Sep 21, 2002
    Brooklyn
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    States give SBA loans all of the time.
     
  5. JBigjake

    JBigjake Member+

    Nov 16, 2003
    He should have insisted that the check be delivered to him on a silver platter by a bicycle messenger. Then tipped the messenger a dollar!
    On a more serious note, I noticed a quote in the cited article from a doorman. This is ironic, considering that most doormen & building staff in Manhattan are also unionized, received good salaries & benefits, as well as very generous, nontaxed, tips at Christmas, for a job most people around the country do for themselves (opening their front door).
     
  6. obie

    obie New Member

    Nov 18, 1998
    NY, NY
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Good to know that they can still take Metro North & the LIRR to the picket lines this morning...
     
  7. obie

    obie New Member

    Nov 18, 1998
    NY, NY
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The Jonathan Schwartz Christmas show on WNYC this past Sunday had a good discussion about these guys -- a few years back, the doormen went on strike. All they do all day is stand outside of buildings and get paid for it. So when they went on strike, they picketed by standing outside of their own buildings; only difference was they weren't getting paid.
     
  8. nicephoras

    nicephoras A very stable genius

    Fucklechester Rangers
    Jul 22, 2001
    Eastern Seaboard of Yo! Semite
    140K for his bonus? Unless he works for Wachtell, I call GIANT shenanigans. And if he works at Wachtell, he'd be going into the office today anyway.
     
  9. JBigjake

    JBigjake Member+

    Nov 16, 2003
    Even stranger were the tenants who were upset that they had to open the front door, lug their own parcels & hail their own cabs!
    P.S. I'm not knocking the security function of doormen, but most of their other work appears unnecessary IMO.
     
  10. bert patenaude

    Apr 16, 2001
    White Plains, NY
    I just love how the MTA gets rid of its one billion dollar surplus by offering reduced holiday fares the day before the TWU contract expires. Then they tell the workers that there is no money left for raises and they have to make pension concessions. I fully support the workers. Enough is enough. The working conditions for these workers are deplorable. A lot of bus drivers worry about where they can use a rest room everyday.

    As far as the MTA, their corruption is unbelievable and they have no transparency in their capital budget. Who do I blame for this mess? Mr. Pataki. His lack of leadership probably qualifies him to be President of the United States.
     
  11. bert patenaude

    Apr 16, 2001
    White Plains, NY
    And you are a friend of this guy? :p
     
  12. sardus_pater

    sardus_pater Member

    Mar 21, 2004
    Sardinia Italy EU
    Club:
    Cagliari Calcio
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy


    A law prohibiting strike? i am quite happy with liberal Italy and its "no regulation of strikes" policy (there is only the constitutional right to strike, no regulation of it).

    Government trying to fine or jail or fire the strikers would lead to general national strikes and/or revolution.

    Above all amongst public employees where the negotiating power of the national Unions is stronger.

    While ppl moan about transport strikes they nonetheless tend to support those striking.

    IMO powerful Unions are a key element of well functioning democracies.
     
  13. CosmosKramer

    CosmosKramer Member

    Sep 24, 2000
    Yokohama
    Club:
    Yokohama F Marinos
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  14. riverplate

    riverplate Member+

    Jan 1, 2003
    Corona, Queens
    Club:
    CA River Plate
    The latest from Brooklyn Supreme Court is that the TWU International union, which the TWU Local 100 in New York is part of, has gone before the judge and said it is washing its hands of the strike. They had attempted to dissuade the union from going on strike, telling them the consessions the MTA had made on the pension issues should have made the local stay at the negotiating table. The local TWU disregarded them.

    As a result, the TWU International is now no longer part of any lawsuit and will not be held in contempt of defying any court order. The TWU Local 100 is standing all alone on this one.
     
  15. needs

    needs Member

    Jan 16, 2003
    Brooklyn
    Interesting. Anyone know if this is SOP for such a public employee union strike, aimed at removing the national from liability.
     
  16. JBigjake

    JBigjake Member+

    Nov 16, 2003
    The issue isn't the current surplus, but projected future deficits. The MTA won't give big raises now, when there will be no money to pay for them in future years. Work conditions are difficult but not deplorable. There are also proposed staff reductions which the TWU opposes. I do agree that there needs to be more transparency in both the operating & capital budgets, probably by outside state auditors. These problems took time to develop & will take time to resolve. The TWU could have negotiated further, but chose to strike at this moment because it feels now will have the most effect on the city, at the holidays. If it snows, they could be correct. If not, New Yorkers will muddle through. The strike will affect the poor & working classes & students more than the middle & upper classes.
     
  17. VFish

    VFish Member+

    Jan 7, 2001
    Atlanta, GA
    Club:
    Atlanta
    It should also be noted that $450 million of the surplus is earmarked to cover unfunded pension liabilities.
     
  18. Metrogo

    Metrogo Member

    Apr 6, 1999
    Washington Hghts NY
    Says who? Says the MTA, and as we have seen time and time again, they can't be trusted.
     
  19. Thomas A Fina

    Thomas A Fina Member

    Mar 29, 1999
    Hell
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This last bit killed the MTA's bargaining position. TWU sees the surplus and can't understand why they can't get a part of it. This after the MTA claimed poverty and hiked up the fares. Rather than some relatively meaningless PR gesture, MTA would have been better off putting away a portion of that money away and proclaiming a rate freeze. I'm with obie - a pox on both their houses. Waaaaaay to much posturing on both sides, especially Toussaint of the TWU.

    FWIW, The line at the Flatbush terminal LIRR station to buy tickets to get to Penn Station via Jamaica must have reached about 3/400 people or so at one time. It looked like the TKTS booth at Duffy Square

    and I miss that damned rat - I laugh every time I see it
     
  20. Thomas A Fina

    Thomas A Fina Member

    Mar 29, 1999
    Hell
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You're also missing the cachet of living in a "Doorman building" - very big for a New Yorker.
     
  21. nicephoras

    nicephoras A very stable genius

    Fucklechester Rangers
    Jul 22, 2001
    Eastern Seaboard of Yo! Semite
    Its more than that for some. As someone who usually gets home pretty late its convenient to have one person to take packages, leave laundry/dry cleaning with to pick up, hold/pay for food if I'm running late, keep keys when parents/friends visit, let me know when people arrive, etc. etc.
    For me, its actually quite a valuable service, and I'd prefer not to give it up.
     
  22. JBigjake

    JBigjake Member+

    Nov 16, 2003
    No one is suggesting that you give it up. You are free to pay an extra $1,000+ "maintenance fee" with your rent or mortgage every month for this service, as well as lay out $500-$1,000 in holiday tips, if you can afford it. Most people who take mass transit can't afford those luxuries, or even to own a car in NYC.
    NY Daily News editorial excerpt: "Since 1999, transit worker salaries have more than kept pace with inflation, rising to an average of $63,000 for train operators and $54,000 for conductors. The MTA proposal would have boosted those numbers to $68,000 and $59,000 while opening the door to substantially more. Toussaint responded by demanding raises totaling more than 25% and refusing what he called givebacks. Even so, the strike is not ultimately about wages. It's about the MTA's health and pension costs. Because both are skyrocketing, the agency faces a deficit of almost $1 billion despite planned fare hikes."
     
  23. JBigjake

    JBigjake Member+

    Nov 16, 2003
    Didn't mention it, although I'm certainly aware of it, because most people outside NYC can't imagine it as a bragging point.
     
  24. nicephoras

    nicephoras A very stable genius

    Fucklechester Rangers
    Jul 22, 2001
    Eastern Seaboard of Yo! Semite
    Oh good. And $500 is way too high of a number. I don't have an army of them.
     
  25. JBigjake

    JBigjake Member+

    Nov 16, 2003
    The fewer there are, the more they expect! Especially if they are performing all the extra services you referred to in post #46.
     

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