Stuck Like Chuck
They did it. The MTA (subways and busses) went on strike today. And in so doing, they closed down the city. Over 7 million people use NYC's transit system a day so you can imagine the inconvenience this is for us.
They aren't letting cars in the city (we Brooklyn folk call Manhattan "the city") unless they have four people in them. It's chaos. I'm fortunate to have a job where I can stay home and get work done. But most New Yorkers are not so fortunate.
I want to sympathize with the MTA but their average worker (if a subway operator - $62,400) makes more than a New York City school teacher ($43,000 with a Masters degree) so that makes it hard. I know the negotiations are much more nuanced than this but the MTA has just effectively shut down NYC five days before Christmas. It's hard not to be mad about that.
They aren't letting cars in the city (we Brooklyn folk call Manhattan "the city") unless they have four people in them. It's chaos. I'm fortunate to have a job where I can stay home and get work done. But most New Yorkers are not so fortunate.
I want to sympathize with the MTA but their average worker (if a subway operator - $62,400) makes more than a New York City school teacher ($43,000 with a Masters degree) so that makes it hard. I know the negotiations are much more nuanced than this but the MTA has just effectively shut down NYC five days before Christmas. It's hard not to be mad about that.
posted by jch at
10:32 AM
5 Comments:
So wrong, Joe. I'd be mad too. In fact, I AM mad! On the behalf of all our NYC pals, I am MAD!!!
Yeah, I'm thinking I seriously picked the wrong career. When the union is "outraged" that the MTA wants new hires to chip in a percentage of their health insurance premium and doesn't want to let them retire on fully funded pensions at 50... It's like they are in a different universe.
What a nightmare! We are kind of sad we are missing it since we are here in Searcy. Isn't that the sign of true New Yorkers? Whether it's good or bad we would like to be gloating or complaining with the rest of our fellow New Yorker's instead stuck outside in the real world.
I can just imagine the pro vs con union debate right now. The union would have a great deal of sympathy from NY'ers if they had held the strike after the holiday season. The financial reprecussions for the city and it's workers will be huge. The teachers worked for years without a contract, and they finally got one that was retroactive. The MTA could have done the same thing. Their demands, as I see them, are completely unreasonable and if they were to get their demands it would be done at the expense of other state and MTA programs.
I'll try to temper my comments since I'm totally biased as a management-side employment/labor attorney and my wife does HR, dealing with unions weekly. I agree that this stunt the union in NY pulled is pretty reprehensible -- bringing the city (and surrounding area) to a stand-still. I don't know that the court order yesterday will make a difference -- doubtful. In my (again, biased) opinion, I think most unions have outlived their usefulness, given the myriad of laws that we have in place now that we didn't decades before when unions were birthed.
Roughly $1,700/month more take home more for a subway operator over a NYC school teacher? No sympathy from this Texan for the MTA. Sorry you're going through it Hays family.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home