Two New York City Bus Lines Shut Down

[Starbucks Anarchist]

NEW YORK - Commuters who depend on two private bus lines were forced to find their own way home after drivers walked off the job early Monday, a predicament that could soon paralyze the entire city if the transit strike widens.

The walkout at the two Queens bus lines came as the Transport Workers Union continued to threaten a large-scale strike beginning after midnight Tuesday that could affect as many as 7 million subway and bus commuters.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in his weekly radio address Sunday, called a possible strike "reprehensible" and said it would drain $400 million a day from the economy.

The union has opposed an MTA plan to raise the age at which a new employee becomes eligible for a full pension from 55 to 62. The MTA has said it made its best offer to the union hours after its contract expired. The MTA also has offered the transit workers, who make between $47,000 and $55,000 a year, 3 percent annual raises for each of three years.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051219/ap_on_re_us/transit_talks

[Thom Little]

1. Down South where I live we don't even have buses to begin with

[KitchenWitch]

3. Most people in New York do not have cars

[Thom Little]

5. They have taxis. We don't even have that.

[KitchenWitch]

6. Taxis are very expensive

and if one was planning on taking the bus home, and did not have the money, they would be stuck.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

7. No kidding.

And the fee for a monthly MTA pass would be eclipsed within less than a week if used for taxis instead.

[NYC Liberal]

11. Yes...$2 for a bus vs. possibly $20+ for a cab depending on where you are

going.

[sir_captain]

15. Are you serious?

You expect 10,000,000+ people to all somehow cram into a 20,000 taxi fleet?

You are comparing apples and oranges.

[KitchenWitch]

16. Yes, thank you!

:hi:

I do not even live in NYC and am aware of how difficult it can be to get a Taxi under "normal" circumstances.

[sir_captain]

19. Heh...yes

I'm already resigned to walking the 5 or so miles to work.

It's really amazing how unsympathetic some people can be!

[KitchenWitch]

24. It saddens me how unsympathetic some people are

x(

[BronxBoy]

21. Maybe you should...n/t

[acmavm]

2. Not a good idea to pull this strike. It's gonna just alienate people.

I don't know what they can do to protest, but crippling the transit system will be a big mess. Plus full pension at 55? Think a majority of New Yorkers will sympathize with that? I wonder.

I hope they haven't shot themselves in the foot.

[0007]

9. Full pension at 55? The people who lose their jobs or income

due to transportation problems, will be heard from.

I'm all for unions but this is going a bit to far.

[ny_liberal]

25. union wants it lowered to 50

go figure

[0007]

28. I'm all for unions. But this is a little over the top I think.

[BronxBoy]

22. Well....

Let's just round up every undocumented worker and have them staff the bus lines and the subway. I know a lot of transit folks. They aren't rich. Actually, they are what was euphemistically called "MIDDLE CLASS". These are unglamourous jobs where the majority of people bust their asses each and every day.

At what point do people who profess to be progressive draw a line in the sand and say enough is enough? And how come there is absolutely very little mention about the incompetence of the MTA management structure while we are talking about the unions.

If they shot themselves in the foot then so be it. But at some point, we need move past a point where we just march inexorably to the lowest common denominator.

I also find it very interesting that the TWU is, by and large, a minority union. I bet you would see a big difference in the way the city has handled negotiations with the Fire and Police unions as opposed to the TWU

[bleedingheart]

29. I think the 55 retirement age is fair...Bus driving is hard work

you are responsible for the lives of passengers, pedestrians and you have to manuever a large bus around a very busy city...

Tell me that wouldn't be stressful.

[lvx35]

4. Its a well positioned union!

That really can keep a load of working people from getting to their jobs, effectively extending the reach of the strike...Now if only those McDonalds employees who can't get to work would only JOIN the union strikers, then we'd have some real action going on in NYC!

[fasttense]

8. This sounds too simple to me.

The only thing the Union opposes is the raise in retirement age? I don't believe it. I want to know the details. Did the union give up overtime for the earlier retirement age? Is there something in the contract the corporate media is not telling us? There is something missing from this story and I'm not sure what it is.

[Tace]

10. The Union Wants 8%-8%-8% In A Three-Year Contract...

with no change in pension or health benefits for new hires. The MTA final offer is 3%-3%-3%, with new hires to retire later and pay more for health care than present employees.

Last I saw, the union is OK with the 3-3-3, but wants new hires to have the same benefits and retirement as present employees.

[Dissent Is Patriotic]

13. Absolutely correct...it is not about retiring at 55

it is about the future of the new hires that come on. The MTA is playing a game of diminishing returns. Labor's only power is in the ability to strike, I say they may currently be the only people actually worried about the next generation, and that is an important part of what unions are all about, and what America was about for some time, so have at it. Rock on union brethren and sistren.


P.S. I live in NY

[Hapameli]

12. The strike started Friday, same day Faux News replaced MSNBC on satellite

I'm calling MIHOP in the making. You're right, something is very wrong with this picture.

[LostinVA]

14. Good for them

Unions need to show some bite in this country -- so many of them have turned into corporate suck ups or RW shills. Drip.Drip.Drip. Our labor rights have eroded so much in this country the last 25-30 years.

Solidarity!

[DoYouEverWonder]

17. The NY Transit workers marched in the 9/24/05 DC Protest

These folks don't look like they are making too much money to me and they supported us, we should support them.

[LostinVA]

18. Agreed -- the lack of union support on DU discourages me

[saigon68]

27. The people who are against unions here

sicken me

[bleedingheart]

30. me too!

I wonder if they realize the life they have today was made better by unions...

[KurtNYC]

20. The MTA is blatantly corrupt

They tried to give away $1 billion dollars worth of MTA land for $100 million last year. We didn't get the Olympics/NFL stadium so then they had a $1 billion surplus. 4 years ago they built Airtrain which means it costs $2 to go as much as 35 miles toward JFK but for the last 1000 yards you will have drag your luggage through turnstiles, elevators and stairways and pay $5 (for which you have to buy a whole separate card btw).

The trains put into service most recently are noisier on the tracks and smaller inside and we are still waiting for the system which will show people waiting for trains how long it is until the next one.

I doubt the strike will widen and I hope that the MTA workers get a better deal out of the MTA than the riders and taxpayers.

[BronxBoy]

23. Yep...

But God Forbid the Unions should stand up and say enough is enough.

They are in a tough spot. If they do strike, the Taylor law penalties may ruin them. But I think they see where things are headed. It's a shame that unions aren't as tight as they used to be. This shouldn't just be about the TWU. ALL city unions should be concerned about the what happens in these negotiations

[ny_liberal]

26. MTA's strike webpage

http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/strike/index.html