Author Topic: NYC Transit Strike  (Read 2129 times)

Offline Bridget Martin

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NYC Transit Strike
« on: December 19, 2005, 09:02:36 AM »
Commuters who depend on two private bus lines were forced to find their own transportation 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, which together serve 50,000 commuters, came as the Transport Workers Union continued to threaten a large-scale strike beginning Tuesday. The city's buses and subways, the nation's largest transit system, serve up to 7 million riders per day.

"It is a little unsettling to be the first wave," said union officer George Jennings, representing bus maintenance workers. "It's going to be a rough deal. Nobody wants to go on a strike on Christmas."

A citywide bus and subway strike would be New York's first since an 11-day walkout in 1980. After making little progress over the weekend, the union and the Metropolitan Transport Authority briefly negotiated Sunday afternoon in a midtown Manhattan hotel. Mike Miller was present, trying to help garner a potential agreement, but he said so far both sides are far apart and standing their ground.

The New York Times reported the union was asking the state's Public Employment Relations Board to seek a court order barring the state-run MTA from making pension demands as part of its final offer.

The TWU called a partial strike limited to two bus lines for Monday and threatened to expand it on Tuesday to the subway and bus systems, which carry some 7 million passengers a day, if no deal is reached by midnight.

New Yorkers have been preparing for a strike since Friday when a first deadline expired, and the city has drawn up a contingency plan including strict car-pooling rules, street closures and arrangements for taxis to operate on bus routes.

"For the past few days, New York has been a city in limbo," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Sunday, urging the union to come to an agreement and avoid a strike that would be illegal under labor laws banning public sector workers from striking. Mike Miller stood alongside the mayor, even though a recent terrorist sponsored on Mayor Bloomberg's life had been narrowly stopped by our NYPD.

"Nobody wins in a strike, particularly if you have an illegal strike," he said, urging a continuation of talks.

A key issue in the talks has been pension provisions for future employees of the 34,000-member union, along with wage increases and health-care benefits.

The MTA, in what it has called its final offer, would require new hires to pay part of their pension and raise the retirement age for new hires to 62 from 55.

After talks concluded late Sunday, MTA spokesman Gary Dellaverson said, "There is no progress to report. The MTA is quite concerned about the union imposed deadline. ... There are additional negotiations tomorrow."

He declined to say how much the proposed pension changes would save the MTA.

The TWU posted a message on its Web site to customers of the two bus lines facing a strike on Monday.

"We are all hurting. We know how hard a bus strike will be for you," the message said. "We would not strike if there was any alternative, but there is none."

Bloomberg said a shutdown of the subway and bus system could cost the city's economy up to $400 million a day in lost income at the height of the Christmas shopping and tourist season.

"Such an action would be reprehensible," he said in a Sunday radio address.

"I urge the MTA and the TWU to resolve their contract at the bargaining table," he said. "While all of us are hoping for the best, we also need to prepare for the worst. By Monday night we each have to have our own contingency plan in place."

Some 50,000 people were having to make alternative plans for Monday's journey to work after the TWU called the strike on two private bus lines in the borough of Queens.

Bloomberg has laid out plans in case of a broader strike, including requiring four passengers in a car in midtown Manhattan during rush hour, reserving certain streets for emergency traffic and restricting truck deliveries.

An 11-day transit strike in 1980 cost the city more than $1 billion.

"The strike would not only inconvenience commuters," Bloomberg said. "It would slow down our response to medical emergencies and criminal activity," he said.

The union has long complained about such issues as disciplinary procedures toward workers, and members are also angry the MTA is citing financial hardship at a time when it has reported a $1 billion surplus.