Yesterday, the MTA offered their Union a harsh deal, proposing a contract that would give MTA workers much less that previously arranged.
Now if you're not from New York, you may not be aware that last month the MTA union went on strike, shutting down public transportation in the city for about three days at a cost to NYC of around 1 billion dollars. The strike was ended with the hopes that the MTA and the Union would be able to get back to the table and hammer out a mutually acceptable deal. (As a friend of mine said, "we thought this was over.") However now that seems to be as unlikely as Israel and Palestine peace treaty. Some of the new measures are as follows:
1) New hires giving 6% of earnings towards pensions. (As opposed to the MTA's previous offer of 1%)
2) New hires giving 1.5% towards health insurance.
3) Assigning token booth clerks and other workers more tasks such as cleaning subway stations.
4) No pension refunds and no Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday.
My own opinion: This is ridiculous. The deal is one of vengeance, politics, and greed. The MTA figures that it has public opinion on their side and this gives them the right to inflict harsh penalties on the transit union. This is a complete Treaty of Versailles.
Look, just like every one in NYC I was put out by the strike, and I understand that some people lost quite a bit of money. However, to me, the union's situation boils down one basic question: Are they entitled to their benefits? With the MTA's lack of good faith when it comes to disclosing its finances, plus the gross fare hikes made, without significant advances in the transit system, and the fact that services have been cut (the largest being the phasing out of the token booth clerk), I cannot say that their deal is fair in the least. Yet, that is the deal, and the Union cannot hope to strong arm both the city and MTA. They simply don't have the manpower or the finances to do so. If they do try then the biggest losers in this conflict will be the entire city.
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2 comments:
I should have destroyed you when I had the chance!!
Let's see what arbitration finds! I bet you it will be even less to the liking of the TWU. Most New Yorkers pay a much heftier part for their own healthcare. In addition NOBODY offers a pension anymore! Look at what is happening to industries when unions made these huge demands (i.e. auto, airline, longshoremen, etc...) the businesses can't sustain the high costs and collapse! Only public sector employees think they can keep going to the well and it will never run dry. I say privatize the whole system, I guarantee you, you won't have $70k+ token booth clerks sleeping on the job and the trains won't smell like your room either.
You know who this is and so does the government! Just sign me Mountain sized back broker!
Good grief, you make it seem like privatization is the pancea. Just look what privatization has done in expanding countries all over the world. Ever seen what companies like Enron did for the water industry in Brazil? There's Africans in the Congo that wouldn't drink the sludge that your friends in Enron charged 50 times more than the state did when it controled Brazil's water. Nice job WTO.
Look I'm not saying that some sort of compromise shouldn't or can't be made. After all that's what the system is supposed to encourage. But the MTA's lack of transparancy on this and the obvious cronyism between them and various parts of the state legistlature lead me and many others to believe that the TWU isn't being dealt with in good faith. And as far as pensions are concerned, maybe they aren't offered because so many companies ran off with them during the 30s, 40s, and 50s. I see no reason why there cannot be some sort of a pension system for not only the TWU but all companies (yes, even your company at Sea World where you jump through that hoop three times a day). Doesn't Congress have some type of pension fund? My motto: if its good enough for DeLay, its good enough for me!
Meet me at Brokeback Mountain and we can discuss this further.
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