New York MTA Strike
 

As of 3AM, EST, the transit strike is on. Good luck new yorkers.

How awful. I have a lot of girlfriends in NYC, but as prissy as they are they probably take taxi's anyway.

Yikes! I hope this gets settled soon...I take the buses and subways everywhere when I'm in NYC. I can't imagine how I'd deal with it if the RTA went on strike out here.

If they can find one.

This will be tough, but New Yorkers are exceptionally creative people when it comes to adversity.

Its illegal in New York State for public transit workers to strike. I'm sure that Bloomburg and the MTA have already gone to court to slap a TRO, an order to go back to work, and fines on the union.

I hope this is resolved quickly.

I'm happy to say my commute was as normal as any other day! :)

I take the Metro North (commuter rail) in from the suburbs north of the city, then I walk the 12 blocks from Grand Central anyway. As of now, the Metro North workers are not joining the picket lines (different union), but they have been without a contract for 3 years, so they have said they might join the strike. We'll see.

If the Metro North doesn't run, I have to drive to my co-worker's in the Bronx and we'll all pile into a car (have to have at least 4 to enter the city) and drive in together.

One of the guys I work for lives in Brooklyn and he didn't even try to make it in. Wimp! :)

My fiancé walked over 40 blocks to work this morning. He left at 7:30. Halfway to work he stopped and ate breakfast. He arrived at work at 8:50. It was 23 degrees when he left.

My mother planned to drive to the ferry. I am not sure if the ferry disembarks near her office. If so, she's lucky. If not, she will have a long walk ahead of her.

In order to drive into Manhattan on a bridge or tunnel or drive south of 96th Street, a car, including cabs, must have 4 people in it. There are people who are driving near the bridges picking up random passengers so they can drive into Manhattan. The news showed the Brooklyn Bridge on tv, and thousands of people are walking across. There are lots of restrictions regarding which streets and avenues are reserved for emergency vehicles as well as times when cars need 4 passengers.

It really is too cold for this. I hope the strike is resolved soon. It's hurting the average workers and students trying to reach their destinations. Most people who depend on the subway and buses cannot afford to take taxi cabs or car service daily. Some of them have health problems or live so far away that walking ranges from difficult to impossible.

I'm telecommuting today. We are discouraged from telecommuting, but allowed to do so if absolutely necessary.

My company has arranged for bus service from major hubs (Grand Central, Penn Station, Port Authority) to lower Manhattan. If the strike lasts longer than a couple of days, I'll take Metro-North and take a bus. But I figure that today, NYC will be a zoo. Let 'em work the kinks out of the contingency plan - then I'll go back to the office.

I heard on the news that the fines are two days pay for every day of the strike.

ETA: aephialum, my fiancé walked passed Grand Central around 8 am. He said it was quiet and there was no traffic in the street.

They should automate the entire system and kick the morons out.

-Rudey

Is the requirement of 4 to a car a new thing? How is it enforced?

It was announced before the strike.

-Rudey

The 4 in a car thing is just for the strike. There are police or traffic officers at the entrances of the bridges and tunnels that will stop cars from getting on if there are not enough passengers. I think that 4 in the car is from 5 am to 11 am. There is very little traffic in Manhattan so it seems to be working.

Actually, I work on Park Avenue and we noticed it was PACKED around 11:30am. I think a lot of people who couldn't find 4 people for their car waited until after the time restriction and drove in then. And as I look out the window now, it's still packed. Of course, the next two avenues over - 5th and Madison - are closed for emergency vehicles use only so that's part of the reason Park is so packed. It runs North and South unlike most NY streets so there is a lot of traffic.

That's what they're trying to do. The union always demagogues the issue by saying that without a conducter and motorman, the subways will be less safe. Total bullshit. Those assholes won't even answer simple questions, let alone get off their asses to make sure that everyone is safe.

My boyfriend's mother left their house at 8am today to go to work. Didn't get there until after 11.

I can't even imagine how I would have dealt with this when I lived in New York. Just the thought of it is pretty unsettling, actually.

DeltAlum is right, though, New Yorkers are exceptionally creative in the face of adversity.

Good luck to everyone affected, though!

Local 100 is being fined one million dollars a day starting today. TWU International says that this is an unauthorized strike, and they do not approve. TWU Local 100 President Roger Toussaint hasn't made a statement yet.

Now at 5:15 the traffic is crazy. I hear so much honking from the street. My fiancé is walking home. He thinks that it will take 45 minutes. I just hope he doesn't freeze.

What does the Damn Union Care, it is on the backs of the Motor Persons and The People of NY, NY!:mad:

Unions have a great way of shooting themselfs in the god damn foot and screwing their members!:mad:

I think that $1 million/day is way too little. This strike is illegal and they should be held liable for the economic damage that they are causing.

NY1 is reporting that TWU International might sue to take control of TWU Local 100.

My best friend is officially crazy. She and her roommate want to go see a movie. So they're walking 50 blocks to the movie theater. :eek:

That's a statement union officials frequently make. I don't believe it for a minute. Just my .02.

I get so tired of Hearing How Unions are so good to their Members!:mad:

They are Good to Themselves!

From what I have read that "The Union" wants is so totally out of line that it is inconceviable!:rolleyes:

They keep screwing around and there will be no damn Unions. Hell the Teamsters were so Rift with Mafia that it was not funny. A & P was damn near put out of Business! Why, Because of Soap!:rolleyes:

Read My Lips, "Screw Unions"!

Until they come to the realization, then they will be an endangered Species!

I have been screwed by 3 of the biggest and no love lost here!

It once again is the Working Members who take it in the Shorts! How many Millions of Dollars will be lsot to the Economy of NY, City and State!:confused:

Send in the Pinkertons.

ABC News was reporting that there are no negotiation talks scheduled for tonight or tomorrow. So it looks like tomorrow will be a repeat of today. ABC said it would probably be worse, because the individuals who chose to stay home today will have to try to make it in tomorrow.

I feel bad for the people who cant get to their doctors or clinics for dyalisis or hospitals for chemo and stuff.

http://www.pinkertons.com/

They got out of that business a while back though.

-Rudey

We had carpools going so school would be fully staffed. There was a 2hr delay but a lot of kids showed up early :rolleyes:

Even with the delay it was a looong teaching day. The kids all know the day is different and once their routine is off a little bit they are difficult to adjust.

Playing it safe and getting a ar service reservation for my trip to LGA later this week...

The NY Sun offers some good advice to state officials:

If the MTA moves even a scintilla toward the union's negotiating position as the result of this strike, it would reward the union's illegal behavior and send to the dozens of other unions who do business with the state, the city, and the public authorities a message of appeasement--that if you want a better contract, go on strike, even if it is against the law. . . . The right move for the MTA now--the only move, if it is going to avoid a strike every time a contract is up for renegotiation--is to take an extremely hard line with the Transport Workers Union Local 100. As a first step, the MTA could refuse to negotiate with this union until the workers are back on the job. If that fails, the authority can begin hiring and training permanent replacement workers. The strikers mustn't be permitted to escape the full penalties of the Taylor Law, which include docking workers' pay and jailing the union leaders.

As much as I hate the system, WVU has an automated transit system. It's called the PRT, and it's been here for three or so decades.

It's all based of of the PERT (iirc) system. It handles extremely low demand and extremely high demand, high being during football games with a few tens of thousand people trying to make it to the game in a hour or so window.

I still chose to drive everywhere though.

My friend Beth said her commute was 2 1/2 hours each way from staten Island. She takes the train on SI to the Ferry, walks to WTC, takes the PATH train to Jersey then back up to 33rd, and then walks to her job at 53rd and Lex.

Normally it only takes her an hour and fifteen minutes on the express bus.

I cant believe its about 15 miles (as the crow flies) and yet it takes her that long to get there. Thats the same amount of time it will take me to drive from San Antonio to Houston on Friday.

Some people are finding other things to do...(links inside probably NSFW)

I've been watching the NYC Traffic Cams here. The Brooklyn Bridge cam this morning is still showing a TON of people walking across the bridge.

They used that shot last night on NBC Nightly News -- pretty dramatic, but it looked like about half the people (exageration) were news photographers.

I was actually wondering this. I mean in a lot of situations like this if they just kicked the reporters, cameramen, and photogs out, I bet travel time would decrease by 25%.

-Rudey

These are the NYDOT traffic webcams. The bridge is much clearer now but there are still several people on it.

Well, I took the PATH to get from home to Midtown. It takes about 20 minutes longer, and it only goes up 6th, and only to 34th Street. Not a bad ride. It seemed very safe, and there are NO TOKEN BOOTH CLERKS. It really illustrates how much TWU Local 100 is completely full of it. They are the main reason why the subways basically stopped expanding in New York. The MTA has so much money tied up in their pensions, that it can't afford to expand.

There are good unions, and there are bad unions. TWU Local 100 is a very bad union that deserves no sympathy from anyone.

An email from a fellow NYer:

'Twas five days before Christmas and all through the town;
Not a train was up running, they'd all been shut down.
The turnstiles were locked and the stations were cleared,
in hopes that Old Bloomberg would give them their share.
The workers were nestled all snug in their booths;
Where oft they're found sleeping, to tell you the truth.
Toussaint wants their pensions to be like the cops' -
you know, 'cause it's stressful announcing each stop.
Alas, from the public arose such a clatter,
Their leader seems not to have thought out the matter.
With shoppers not shopping and travel delayed,
public support dwindled, New Yorkers' nerves frayed.
You dumb, lazy morons! The people did cry.
Pensions the same as the FDNY?
It'll cost us a fortune, illiterate twits!
The people weren't happy. In fact, they threw fits.
There's strength in a union, or so they believed
but not before Christmas - now everyone's peeved.
It's terrible timing for stranding the masses;
If Reagan were here he'd have fired your asses.

http://www.banterist.com/archivefiles/images/booth2.jpg

http://www.banterist.com/archivefiles/images/booth1.jpg

Jailtime
 

I wish that I could put that picture in my GC signature.

In other news...

Jail Threat Ups Ante for NYC Union Heads

By DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press Writer

The city and state stepped up their pressure on striking transit workers Wednesday in hopes of forcing them back to work, and a judge said sending union leaders to jail was a "distinct possibility."

State Supreme Court Justice Theodore Jones, who is hearing several legal issues related to the strike, directed attorneys from the Transport Workers Union to bring president Roger Toussaint and other top officials before the court Thursday to answer to a criminal contempt charge. He said he may sentence the union leaders to jail for refusing to end the strike, calling such a scenario a "distinct possibility."

Union lawyer Arthur Schwartz said Toussaint and the other officials are in negotiations with mediators and that hauling them into court could halt the talks.

The possibility of jail time for union leaders was one of several developments Wednesday as millions of New Yorkers made their way to work in another bone-chilling commute without subways and buses.

Michael A. Cardozo, New York City's corporation counsel, asked the judge to issue an order directing union members to return to work. If the order is granted, Cardozo said, the city could ask for $25,000-a-day fines per worker — a punishment that goes beyond the docked-pay penalty that workers already are experiencing for the illegal strike.

"We're doing everything possible to make the union obey the law," he said, adding that union members need to "realize the economic consequences of their actions."

The fines would be at the discretion of the judge, and most likely would range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars.

Meanwhile, New Yorkers were out before sunrise, hoping to avoid the long lines and crushing crowds that formed at commuter rail stations during rush hour Tuesday. Outside Penn Station, several taxis had lined up by 7 a.m. to pick up passengers hoping to beat the rush. A trip across Manhattan took about 90 minutes.

"A nightmare, disorganized, especially going home," Aleksandra Radakovic said Wednesday morning in describing her commute.

The White House also spoke out on the strike Wednesday, saying federal mediators have offered to help end the dispute. "It is unfortunate. We hope that the two sides can resolve their differences so that the people in New York can get to where they need to go," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

On Tuesday, Jones imposed a huge fine against the Transport Workers Union — $1 million for each day of the strike; Schwartz said the fine could deplete the union's treasury in the matter of days. The union vowed to immediately appeal.

In addition, the union's 33,000 members already face the loss of two days pay for every day they are on strike. That means a prolonged strike could quickly eat up any increased pay they would get with a new contract.

Some of the strikers got an early start Wednesday, donning union placards and returning to their picket lines. Bill McRae, a bus driver since 1985, said he thought negotiations should have continued — but he still backed the walkout.

"The union executives called for a strike, and we have to do what we have to do," McRae said on Manhattan's West Side.

Transit officials said about 1,000 transit workers came to work Tuesday despite the strike, and they were put to work cleaning and doing paperwork.

As they did on the first day of the strike, throngs of pedestrians, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, on Wednesday braced themselves against the 24-degree weather and crossed the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan. Volunteers awaited them, offering hot chocolate.

Bloomberg urged transit workers to end the strike.

"All the transit workers have to do is listen to their international (union) that's urged them to go back to work, listen to the judge who ordered them back to work, and look at their families and their own economic interests," he said. "They should go back to work. Nobody's above the law, and everyone should obey the law."

The International TWU, the union's parent, had urged the local not to go on strike. Its president, Michael O'Brien, reiterated Tuesday that the striking workers were legally obligated to resume working. The only way to a contract, he said, is "not by strike but continued negotiation."

Police say there have been no strike-related crimes, injuries or arrests with the exception of two minor incidents.

On Tuesday night, a cab driver was arrested on the Upper East Side for allegedly assaulting a woman in his cab after they got into an argument over the fare. She sustained minor injuries. And earlier Tuesday, a police officer was accidentally bumped by a flatbed truck at a checkpoint in Queens.

"The city is functioning, and functioning well considering the severe circumstances," Bloomberg said before ripping into the union.

The TWU "shamefully decided they don't care about the people they work for, and they have no respect for the law," the mayor said.

In its last offer before negotiations broke down, the MTA had proposed maintaining a retirement age of 55 but increasing what new hires contribute to the pension plan. It would require new employees to pay 6 percent of their wages for their first 10 years, rather than the current 2 percent. Union officials said that such a change was unacceptable.

"Were it not for the pension piece, we would not be out on strike," Toussaint said in an interview with NY1. "All it needs to do is take its pension proposal off the table."

The union said the latest MTA offer included annual raises of 3 percent, 4 percent and 3.5 percent; the previous proposal included 3 percent raises each year.

The MTA asked the Public Employment Relations Board to formally declare an impasse, the first step toward forcing binding arbitration of the contract, said James Edgar, the board's executive director.

For GCers Outside the City
 

If you want to follow this, check out this web page from a local news radio station:
http://1010wins.com/wins/strike/