Maybe I heard wrong, but I heard that they won't even start talks till they go back to work, because they are striking illeagaly, therefore they won't won't talk to them because they are criminals.
Whoever THEY are?
Alan

I think the MTA is being a stand up company because they are paying the employees that did not stike and are back at work. I do not believe that the MTA is a perfect company but no company is perfect anyway. I have been involved in union negotiations in the past and never have I seen such poor leadership and negotiatiing skills than that of the TWU and their Chairman Roger Toussaint. These workers simply do not deserve a raise in pay or better benefits package at all. There are more important public workers in this city that deserve more. The union is going to pay big time for this mess and I hope that if this strike goes on much longer the mayor will drum up the courage to simply do what is necessary and fire the whole lot of them. Let's see how they like looking for jobs with similar pay in this market.

syntax73 wrote:I think the MTA is being a stand up company because they are paying the employees that did not stike and are back at work. I do not believe that the MTA is a perfect company but no company is perfect anyway. I have been involved in union negotiations in the past and never have I seen such poor leadership and negotiatiing skills than that of the TWU and their Chairman Roger Toussaint. These workers simply do not deserve a raise in pay or better benefits package at all. There are more important public workers in this city that deserve more. The union is going to pay big time for this mess and I hope that if this strike goes on much longer the mayor will drum up the courage to simply do what is necessary and fire the whole lot of them. Let's see how they like looking for jobs with similar pay in this market.

Can you point to a source about TWU employees working and the MTA paying them? And if it's about 1000 people, that makes it about 3% of the TWU members. Not really that significant. You might as well be saying that 97% of the members have NOT crossed the picket line. Besides, what makes an employer "stand up" for simply paying the people working? That just sounds normal to me.

And, please, the MTA is a STATE, not CITY, agency. The mayor can not fire them, and the City doesn't get squat if the MTA pays them less.

I wonder how all of you would feel if the next time you're negotiating a pay raise, you had 100s of people second guessing and trying to decide for you whether or not you deserved it.

David keep dreaming. If you don't think the mayor cant influence a massive firing with the best interest of the city in mind you are sorely mistaken. The union is loosing this battle and they will eventually break. If it takes fines, jail, or a massive firing. I am all for it and so are most NY'ers.

Let's take our city back

syntax73 wrote:David keep dreaming. If you don't think the mayor cant influence a massive firing with the best interest of the city in mind you are sorely mistaken. The union is loosing this battle and they will eventually break. If it takes fines, jail, or a massive firing. I am all for it and so are most NY'ers.

Let's take our city back

I think the mayor would serve the city better as a mediator rather than a tough talking sheriff threatening to throw people in jail. The point is to find a solution rather than fan the flames.

I took an informal poll today among people I deal with on a daily basis in the meat packing district. It included the postman, the fedex man, ups man, and the girl at the take out counter where I order my lunch. All of them were supportive of the striking workers so it is hard to say where most new yorkers stand.

I think if you ask the average new yorker they would distrust a ceo as much if not more than a local union boss.

dgilman wrote:
I wonder how all of you would feel if the next time you're negotiating a pay raise, you had 100s of people second guessing and trying to decide for you whether or not you deserved it.

When you go to an extreme and cause a dangerous situation by doing a complete shutdown instead of a slowdown then, of course, everyone that is affected by your irresponsible behavior will be judging you.

There were many alternatives to a complete shutdown of service. Their timing and extreme actions show them to be selfish.

-Franky

jazzyd wrote: it is hard to say where most new yorkers stand. .

Actually it is not hard to know at all. According to an ABC news pol taken on the first day of the strike, 52% supported the union.

source: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?secti ... id=3746803

With a 2% margin of error, that makes this a dead even issue.

If I were a betting man, I would say that the union will loose at least 2% points every working weekday they stay on strike.

It is an ILLEGAL strike. People seem to be forgetting this. When you take an MTA job, you know that you are forbidden from striking by law. That's the deal.

Period.

Toussaint is saying "their is a higher principle than the law, that is justice."
Who does he think he is, Martin Luther King, Jr., with this civil disobedence claptrap?

The mayor is not a mediator in this case, but is duty bound to do whatever he can to enforce the law and end the illegal strike which is damaging the city and its residents much more than any "sacrifice" being asked of the union.

They need to go back to work, and back to the bargaining table.

Once you start rationalizing lawbreaking in the case of esoteric differences over pension contributions, you're on a slipperly slope. Let them sue the MTA if they're out of bounds on that issue.

P.S. The analogy of the pay raise is not a good one. There's a word for "negotiating" a pay raise by staying home from work. Quitting.

"The White House Says it Might Try to Get Involved in the Strike"


...I hope both sides resolve this as quickly as possible. I for one don't want to know what W would do in this situation.

On the other hand, the administration now has some experience at handling 30,000+ "insurgents".

Brad

p.s. scooters rock!

I think the mayor would serve the city better as a mediator rather than a tough talking sheriff threatening to throw people in jail.

Actually, today the mayor said he hopes the judge does not jail Toussaint and make a martyr out of him.

BradPo wrote:p.s. scooters rock!

Damn straight! And motorcycles and anything with two wheels.

And jeeze is the driving INSANE out there. Just desperation wackiness.

I might go to the Monkey around 9. I doubt anyone will be there tho.

Yeah the traffic was bad took me 2 hours to get home. I took the battery tunnel to warm up. And I almost got hit by a van 10 min from home. In the morning Scooters and motorcycles own the streets. I don't know about you but my scooter paid for itself 100 times over during this strike.

Was just at the monkey, happened to be shopping in the west village. I was the only one there so I had a drink and split. Latest online poll surveying over 100,000 which I would say is alot more than your grocery store clerk and mailman says that over 60% are not sympathetic to the TWU's position.

YEAH JASON

F-U TWU!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just got home and saw that grey GT rider from the wire photo crashed on the sidewalk. See new post:

http://www.nyscooterclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=175

DAMN

BradPo wrote:And jeeze is the driving INSANE out there. Just desperation wackiness.

You can say that again! I cannot imagine what it must be like
crossing the Brooklyn bridge in a car. I would not have the patience.

Saw an older man on a scooter yesterday with big off road looking wheels. The whole bike was shaking as he struggled to control his bike at slow speeds while manuevering in between cars. He was determined to get where he was going. He embodied determination.

Did the MTA have a 1 Billion dollar surplus? If so then the strike becomes a moral issue on several fronts.

One could argue that it is immoral of the union to strike so close to the holidays. There are many innocent bystanders who earn a significant portion of their income during the holidays. There are many unable to receive medical attention because private nurses are unable to reach them. And I am sure we all work with people unfortunate enough not to have scooters who are freezing their asses off walking 2 hours to work.

I agree that the longer this goes on the less popular the union stance becomes. However they are obviously not doing this for popularity. The point of a strike like it or not is to create maximum impact and that is exactly what they are doing. Whether or not they acheive any of their goals remains to be seen.

It is also immoral for the MTA to use its profits as a cheap PR ploy by providing discounted weekend fares to make up for their abysmal service. The trains and stations are filthy. The service is spotty at best. The PA systems are inaudble. The tracks are perpetually being repaired BUT NOTHING IS EVER FIXED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Rather then fix a corroded system they piss away their profits and then have the nerve to propose a fare hike. If the local union bosses are to serve any jail time then they should be joined by MTA board members, and Cab drivers/Car services who are using the strike to inflate their rates.

I just saw ch 2 news and the twu and mta are meeting now. and they interviewed one of the mta officals and said it looks good. so hopefully by tomorrow the trains will be running.

The Mayor claimed yesterday that the Fulton Mall was seeing a 90% drop in business due to the strike. My wife was there with her mother yesterday and said the mall (Macy's in particular was "bumpin") so one has to wonder if the Mayor is being creative in order to build a case against the union.