December 22, 2005
BREAKING: Strike Nearing End?
The strike mediator Richard Curreri is on television right now, saying that the parties have come back to the table and the union is commiting to do what it needs to do to end the strike. The TWU is taking it to the executive board; looks like they are thinking about going back to work.
Some reporters in the audience are asking if its political suicide for the union to return to work without a contract, but the mediator isn't commenting (obviously.) If it turns out that the union goes back to work pending mediation, then it's pretty clear that the TWU blinked first, and caved in to the massive pressure brought by the MTA and government.
Mediator is announcing a media blackout until things are resolved. He's saying that negotiations will begin shortly. Wow!
Pataki just came on television with his own press conference. He's saying that it's good news: "I'm pleased that the Taylor Law... has moved things forward in a positive way." Now he's talking about some other legislation.
Executive board for the TWU is meeting at 1pm... could trains and buses be running by evening rush hour? Please God, please! Actually, now sounds unlikely-- they are saying 12 to 24 hours for a restart of service. That sounds a little long-- at least for the buses-- couldn't they be gassed up and put out on the streets in like 3 hours?
Judge has adjourned the hearing on the jailing of the TWU leadership until 4pm-- seems to presume that the strike will be over by then.
DEVELOPING...
The mainstream media catches up on the coverage:
New York Times
CNN
NY1 Breaking News
Latest: NY1 reports the TWU board is assembled, but waiting on the Staten Island members. Have they ever heard of a conference call? And we hope they have four people in the car coming to the TWU headquarters, or else they'll be turned away.
Even more latest: The TWU's board voted to end the strike, based on what the arbitrators laid out. It's over! But there's no word on when service will be back and running. We'll update later! is getting ready to vote on the arbitrator's plans.
|
PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE!!!!
Crossing my fingers...
Wait... how are the union leaders going back to the table and in court at the same time?
Do NOT tease me!
I wonder how long it will take to spin the system up to get it actually near what we call "functioning."
Would the news blackout include snipes by Pataki and the Mayor? Again, with the friggin Taylor Ham law.
It didn't work, maybe in the south where the salt cured pork is eaten, it will work.
Let's hope when this is all over Albany steps in and cleans up the MTA and the union rules so this sort of thing can never happen again.
P.S. Can we all thank Gothamist for the fabulous coverage? As usual they have 101wins.com and ny1.com soundly beat with the timely news!
I've been wondering what it'd be like if the transit workers were forced back onto the job -- but weren't satisfied, hadn't settled demands. Would they "protest" in subtle ways on the job (Or is that unethical? I bet I would do that.). I certainly don't want to be stuck under the river in a train driven by a someone who's pissed off.
"Albany step in". Hee Hee. All this walking has made everyone dizzy. Albany, um, controls the MTA. And Albany sweetened pensions in 2000, leading to the MTA negotiator to illegally demand pension concessions (see Law, Taylor). Albany. Ho Ho. First, they are going to have to find the governot. Where is he? El Paso?
Don't jump the gun on tactics or who blinked. I'll lay money the TWU signs a deal that is identical to the last offer, less pension changes, and still goes after to the state labor board as a result of the impropriety of the pension demand. And it was still effective as a strike, and that may empower the other city unions, who will be hit with the same pension changes next. We may see more, not less, one/two days actions. Not a penny in fine will be paid, and Bloomberg will not utter the word 'Thug' for the next four years.
Hey, Governor Dopey...
Your lips are moving, I cannot hear,
Your voice is soothing, but the words arent' clear...
The only difference is you're down there,
I'm looking through you, and you're nowhere
Dumb as a second coat of paint.
I meant maybe this will be a catalyst to overhaul the debilitating pension system overall in this country. No one takes notice when GM is drowning because of the burdensome system because it doesn't effect us directly. Maybe now that we know the question can literally bring us to a grinding halt, someone will get to work on fixing the problem. Maybe Albany can get up off their lazy bums and be the first. Maybe this will be an issue that Pataki can take on. He needs at least one issue to highlight while he's out there pimping himself to Iowa and New Hampshire.
Damn thugs. I'm glad the strike may be ending but hope some sort of pension reform for new employees can be reached.
As far as thugs go...where do these black people get off stealing all these words as descriptive of them?? I'm white, I want to be a "thug" without any racial overtones. Its just a word jackasses, get over it. Most of the people complaining are the same hypocrites who call each other my niggas but God forbid someone else does. Guess I'm just some dumb, honky, crakka ass white dude.
***Newsflash***
NY Governor George Pataki finally reacts to the transit strike in NYC after reading "My Pet Goat" for the past 2 1/2 days.
P.S. TWU can suck it.
Yeah, guess so...
miss representation asserts that "this was still effective as a strike". I wonder! The timing of the climbdown is rather odd: just as the fines of the union ($3 mil) approach its net assets (~$4 mil), and hours before a hearing in front of a judge, who has proven rather sterner than anyone had expected, and threaten Toussaint with jail and TWU rank-and-file with $25k a day ...
I am sure that supporters will insist ex post that this was a gracious act of Christmas goodwill by the union, or that it really got what it wanted; the fines may be waived, although you'r mistaken if you think Pataki and Bloomberg will let go of this heavy cudgel so easily. To me it seems that thanks to the Taylor law, "the bosses" can inflict more pain on the strikers than they receive, even under these ideal conditions, as far as the union is concerned, what with the weather and holidays. Will a weaker union dare to strike after this ..?
re: [Pataki] pimping himself to Iowa and New Hampshire
The only people convinced Pataki will run for president are Democrats.
Sound Gothamist coverage? ha. good one. comparing them to wire readers NY1 and 1010 is hardly a bench mark.
Jake - what do you think is going on, the drivers are just sitting at the bus depot just waiting to turn the key and pick you up??? Lets think about this for a second. The executive board is going to vote on this during the afternoon. Then the workers need to get from their picket lines to where they might work. How are they going to do that? Take the subway? a bus? eh? drive? Really, think about things. This is exactly the kind of ignorance that leads people to think what others do is easy or worthless.
Honestly I wish they had done what the Manahattan Institute and Post wanted and fired all of them. Then the city transportation would have been fucked for years. Morons.
I agree with Youth of Today's sentiment, if not the choice of words. Whence the monopoly of black folks on being a "thug"? Check the fascinating etymology of the word to convince yourself that it's not exactly "straight outta Compton". The defensiveness shown by Sharpton and other commentators reveals more about their eagerness to play the race card in every debate, no matter how unrelated, and their complexes, than about Bloomberg's racism.
COUNTER STRIKE IN EFFECT!!!
I love what miss representation called Pataki: "governot." That's great stuff. I think we should make posters. We all know that if he runs for President he won't be getting New York City's vote.
Hi,
I was wondering if someone could enlighten me as to how the MTA altering the pensions is illegal under the Taylor. I hear very little about it but it seems very interesting and I would definitely like to get more details on it. Thanks
Look, I may live in Spokane, WA, but it's this simple I haven't anyhting on the news that talks were in progress prior to the strike about the contracts that are now being discussed. If they had been talking months before their deadline, just maybe this strike wouldn't have happened. From what I know about the subway in New York they are not all that safe all the time. If a pay increase was needed I don't see what the problem would be. but from what I have gathered from the news all that was neede was the contracts to be renewed. If I am wrong please let me know. I have to say that as I close this that I think New York is a great place.
Anthony Dellwo, Spokane, WA
tim: Here's the Taylor law - http://www.perb.state.ny.us/stat.asp
The pension language you're talking about appears in the definitions section. I can't make heads or tails of it on first reading. I agree with the poster above that it has something to do with Taylor Ham. mmm.
tim: On Taylor Law and MTA bringing up pensions during contract negotiations, see this gothamist comment: http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2005/12/22/transit_strike_4.php#comment-89860
oh excellent! another reason to turn something into a racial issue. when this blows over, maybe we can turn the shortage of X-boxes into a racial thing. if that doesn't stick, then maybe we can spin the racial thing on to elton john's same sex marriage. there's GOTTA be something....
I'm sorry, what's the confusing part?
The term "terms and conditions of employment" means salaries, wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment provided, however, that such term shall not include any benefits provided by or to be provided by a public retirement system, or payments to a fund or insurer to provide an income for retirees, or payment to retirees or their beneficiaries. No such retirement benefits shall be negotiated pursuant to this article, and any benefits so negotiated shall be void.
The issue that's been brought up in the past is that in previous negotiations, the TWU hasn't apparently had a problem when it's brought up in a manner they find favorable.
I don't believe the strike is over. 1010 WINS says it will be 18-24 hours before service is up and running. It shouldn't take that long, especially given that management has run empty trains over the rails to keep them clear & dry. Unless the motormen and conductors have something better to do, those trains should be ready to go now.
This is just more mind-fucking from the TWU.
I stand corrected, Taylor ham is a New Jersey product and it's supposedly damn tasty fried up greasy spoon style with egg on a roll.
What do I know? I love eastern carolina style bbq.
Where in that link does it say the TWU exec board voted to end the strike?
The minorities gave in.
Your "even more latest" update is not accurate.
mc: I'll wager you a bottle of your favorite bourbon total fines paid by the TWU has an over/under of seven figures (that's a million), and the members pay nothing above loss of wages for time on stike.
I said effective because I still believe by the time it's said and done, there will be no pension changes, an a final offer better than what the MTA first came with, and girding the other unions for the coming battle.
Did anyone listen to Toussiant's entire statement yesterday? I think it's pretty clear he indicated that they didn't see this as a fight to the death, they only wanted pensions to come off the table. That's why the 'folded' so easy.
I agree pensions need to be addressed, but that is a state issue (by their own doing), and should be addressed there, which is what the union argued. The deal cut in 2000 was not part of collective bargaining.
"Huh", they haven't voted to end the strike, they've agreed to "take steps to go back to work". I don't know what that means, but it doesn't sound like "going back to work".
http://1010wins.com/topstories/local_story_356054551.html
i hope that the strike ends today, otherwise commuting tomorrow (when everybody's trying to get out of town for holidays) is going to be a nightmare.
In the words of the greatest Yankee of all time, Yogi Berra, "It ain't over 'till its over."
"I don't believe the strike is over. 1010 WINS says it will be 18-24 hours before service is up and running. It shouldn't take that long..."
I don't pressume the job of getting workers in place and starting up the worlds largest Subway system from a 'cold' state is that easy.
For one, most MTA workers use the subways to get to work. So there's a catch-22 as to how to get people to their positions. Second, running a few trains on the track to keep the tracks themselves in good shape is not enough to assure all is good. Would you really want to get on a train and then find out that there's some signal issue that nobody checked out? Being stuck in a non-moving train is a lot worse than being stuck without trains at all.
In general, if the strike ends buses will run more quickly than the trains do. So that's your best bet.
They shut it down fast enough, didn't they?
(For one, most MTA workers use the subways to get to work. So there's a catch-22 as to how to get people to their positions.)
Almost no TWU member uses transit to get to work, although its free to them. They drive, and live in the suburbs. The bus depots and train yards are at the end of the line, not the center of Manhattan, and workers get re-assigned for every pick, often to a place far away from where they live.
I hope tomorrow counts as a fourth day of the strike if NORMAL service is not running by 12:01 am.
"Almost no TWU member uses transit to get to work."
Hillarious!
"They drive, and live in the suburbs."
Even funnier!
Yes, every MTA worker comes into town driving their SUV from their suburban homes to pass out subway maps and sell Metrocards. LOL!
You didn't know that TWU members don't live in the city?
They were allowed to live outside, along with all the better-paid NYC public employees (cops, teachers, fire) by 1960s state legislation. At the time, the TWU was mostly white, otherwise they would have been forced to live in the city like less well paid city employees (exceptions are made for managers and other highly paid based on the "difficult to recruit" exemption).
Most are hardly in a position to take transit, at least until they have seniority. Let's say you live in the Rockaways and have low senority -- you may end up being assigned to start your run in Williamsbridge, Bronx, one hell of a long commute by train. Eventually they have enough seniorty to pick a place close to home, but as I said, most choose the suburbs -- even the exurbs as far away as the Poconos.
The TWU is no exception to the rule that all the better-paid NYC public employees live outside the city.
"You didn't know that TWU members don't live in the city?"
No. I am laughing at the blindness and inaccuracy of that statement. You're simply wrong.
"The TWU is no exception to the rule that all the better-paid NYC public employees live outside the city."
Yes, a $16.00 per hour bus driver is living in the suburbs! Hillarious statement and conceit.
If you think the vast majority of MTA workers live in the suburbs, you probably have never ridden the subway.
"Did anyone listen to Toussiant's entire statement yesterday? I think it's pretty clear he indicated that they didn't see this as a fight to the death, they only wanted pensions to come off the table. That's why the 'folded' so easy."
It's possible that some think Toussaint miscalculated in calling a strike, but he's not an idiot: he knew what the fines would be before he and the TWU board pulled the trigger, and things seem to be going fairly close to what you'd expect for a union getting fined $1M/day with $3M-$4M in their coffers. He showed the membership that the TWU has backbone, and I agree, probably did a great deal of good for union solidarity in NYC generally. Without question, the union probably will gain some small monetary concession from the strike, but the political gain is huge and easily underestimated.
Whether Pataki and Bloomberg's repraisals following this strike will outweigh the benefits to NYC labor more generally, I'm less convinced.
FUCK THE TERRORIST WORKERS UNION!!!!!!!
i for one hope the MTA does not back down. i can't afford another fare increase or more taxes on my salary, which is just more than half of the average TWU worker who is out on strike (i am working on that problem, by going back to school next year). the city is already too expensive, the unions cannot expect that the public is an unlimited tap for cash and i would much rather see the money put to continuing to clean up, modernize and expand the system, not to more bloated union salaries (MTA management included)
hey youth of today! if i call you a bitchass, and we're trying to come to an agreement about something, wouldn't that get in the way? wouldn't you respond to that as a threat? as if i disregarded you and your opinions and wouldn't think twice about kicking your ass?
(i know that's what you wanted, a violent reaction, right? you're a funny funny guy.)
also (not to youth of today): and remember that the transit workers are not the kids with parents who can back them up, or people with many educational/ financial opportunities to go to grad school. think about the people who do and their characteristic for a second.
"...more than half of the average TWU worker..."
Not every MTA worker makes $55,000. The majority make lots less.
If you want the MTA fares to stay put and not go up, don't blame the TWU. Blame the MTA and the corruption within the agency.
It's sad to think that some think that the TWU is the source of all of the headaches in the MTA. Peter Kalikow and Larry Reuter are incompetent overpaid lumps of meat. But few would ever speak out as publically against them as the bile being spit towards TWU workers.
Granted the TWU lost some goodwill in this strike, but even at their worst they are still the least of the problems the MTA has to deal with.
miss representation: a basic, crude criterion for measuring the effectiveness of a strike would be to check whether the union achieved a contract better than the one they would have gotten without work stoppage, corrected for costs of the strike. This involves a tricky counterfactual, since all we know is that MTA offered either retirement at 62 and contribution of 1% of wages or retirement at 55 and contribution of 6% *when the strike was called*. But, assuming that this was entirely unacceptable to TWU, by definition some improvement would have had to be granted by arbitration, which is where a negotiation to impasse must lead eventually, where Toussaint likes it or not (source: labour lawyer on Brian Lehrer's show). So, if TWU runs out of the meeting flush with glee tomorrow and says something like, "lo, we managed to maintain status quo ante (55/0%)", it does not at all mean they achieved this strictly thanks to the strike! I'll personally be convinced only if they gain something that seems improbable to have been granted by arbitration splitting down the middle: for instance, if they come away with 52/0%. That's not negotiation, that's highway robbery, and that's what a strike would presumably be shooting for.
I am pleased you see the importance of resolving the matter of unfunded pension liabilities in principle. It's not obvious to me that it is a "state issue", although you may be able to show this with some elaboration. It's not particularly interesting that *legally* it's the state legislature that handles the problem; I am far more curious about the *economics* at work. On who's shoulders will the eventual burden of this liability fall? That's what counts. Since New York City derives most of the benefit from the subway system, it probably should be us, the tax-paying residents; and if we find this burden too heavy, *we* should be empowered to bring the point to TWU. Unfortunately, there's this confusion about what MTA represents, and whether it can be taken to speak for the NYC taxpayer, since it is technically a state agency. Yet I sincerely doubt whether the state will be willing to take on the pensions when push comes to shove, and I am afraid of a really sub-optimal outcome, where TWU pushes for more, and neither NYC nor state are willing to say no because of the ambiguity on who'll be charged in 30 years. Viz. San Diego system, or this very NYC system in the 70s to see what happens when the pigeons finally come home to roost.
As far as the bet goes, I'll take the over, if you think (I think you do) that the workers won't be charged even the two days of earnings fine provided under Taylor Law. Feel free to email me to hammer out the details.
Hm, email did not get posted. It's montecristo6@hotmail.com.
this is neither the first, nor the last that such misleadings by the feds should appear as misgivings of the proletariat. blame not touissant, i know, for he is only a messenger not of those very laborors that which he represents, but rather his older and bigger brother. we shall be affored for our own pedal labors - a holiday blast - free of such destruction, as our army of skilled comput-ANTs traced the tunnels, and swept the the Battlefield of the New Age. Yes, our grandest of all bothers in London, and Jerusalem have all but become accustomed to the luxury of which we travel - a subconscious free of that sound - BOOM!
jack, i do blame the twu... look at the costs of those benefits in thw entire MTA budget. they had no justification for a strike, none at all and if the city and state gives in rest assured the fares and your taxes will go to pay for it.