Tweet
Greedy, selfish NYC transit workers threaten strike
Dec 6, 2002 4:18 pm US/Eastern
(1010 WINS) (NEW YORK) Fire trucks would not be able to get to fires, hundreds of thousands of children could not make it to school, businesses depending on holiday shoppers would be crippled economically and the city would choke on traffic.
That would be the scene if 34,000 subway and bus workers go on strike Dec. 15, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday.
"In terms of what it would do to the city, it's really scary," said Bloomberg. "The traffic would increase by 25 percent, causing gridlock and massive delays. There would not be ambulances, fire trucks, police cars -- the response time would slow down dramatically because they couldn't get through traffic. It's life threatening. People will die because you cannot get emergency vehicles where they want to be."
"The economy of the city will be terrible," Bloomberg added during his weekly radio show on WABC-AM. "It would be devastated. This is not in the spring, this is during the Christmas season when companies make 40 percent of their profits, and if they don't make it, they will lay off people, so a lot of people would lose their jobs if there is a strike during this time of year."
Dave Katzman, spokesman for Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, said Bloomberg should use his position as mayor to convince the state's Metropolitan Transportation Authority to negotiate fairly with the union.
"If the mayor and the governor want to avert a Dec. 15 crisis, then they should be using their good offices to get the MTA to bargain seriously," said Katzman.
More than 7 million people ride MTA buses and trains each day.
Also Friday, the union went to court to prevent the city and MTA from attempting to bar the union from discussing a strike in its meetings. The city won a court order banning such discussions the last time the union nearly went on strike in 1999.
"The city and the Transit Authority should not try to hold a club over the heads of the union and the union members," said Arthur Schwartz, general counsel of the union.
Officials from the union, the city and the transit agency will discuss the issue in court Monday morning.
Bloomberg said Friday a strike would force the city to spend $10 million a day on police overtime and millions more on emergency bus and ferry service; cripple business at restaurants and theaters on Broadway; leave 600,000 children with no way to get to school -- which would cost the city millions in state revenue; and disproportionately harm low-income people who are particularly reliant on public transportation.
"It would be phenomenally damaging to the city," said the mayor.
The mayor's comments came one day after transit union president Roger Toussaint said the MTA was trying to force a strike after the agency presented a contract offer with no raises and a 2.3 percent pay cut the third year.
The union's members are scheduled to meet Saturday to determine how to respond to the MTA proposal.
The agency is facing a $1 billion deficit next year and a $1.7 billion deficit the following year. The MTA board will vote later this month on a proposal that could raise subway fares from $1.50 to $2, cut services or do a combination of both to close the deficit.
Transit workers are seeking a 24 percent pay increase over three years and more input on safety procedures. Last month, two subway workers were killed in two days while working in the tunnels.
The state's Taylor Law prohibits public employees from striking. Both Bloomberg and Gov. George Pataki have said that in the event of a strike, the government would respond quickly -- and forcefully -- including seeking an immediate court injunction and fines from both the union and its individual members.
The transit union last threatened to strike in 1999 over a contract that gave members a raise of more than 9 percent over four years.
The city's last transit strike, in 1980, shut down service for 11 days. The union was slapped with $1.25 million in fines.
(1010 WINS) (NEW YORK) Fire trucks would not be able to get to fires, hundreds of thousands of children could not make it to school, businesses depending on holiday shoppers would be crippled economically and the city would choke on traffic.
That would be the scene if 34,000 subway and bus workers go on strike Dec. 15, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday.
"In terms of what it would do to the city, it's really scary," said Bloomberg. "The traffic would increase by 25 percent, causing gridlock and massive delays. There would not be ambulances, fire trucks, police cars -- the response time would slow down dramatically because they couldn't get through traffic. It's life threatening. People will die because you cannot get emergency vehicles where they want to be."
"The economy of the city will be terrible," Bloomberg added during his weekly radio show on WABC-AM. "It would be devastated. This is not in the spring, this is during the Christmas season when companies make 40 percent of their profits, and if they don't make it, they will lay off people, so a lot of people would lose their jobs if there is a strike during this time of year."
Dave Katzman, spokesman for Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, said Bloomberg should use his position as mayor to convince the state's Metropolitan Transportation Authority to negotiate fairly with the union.
"If the mayor and the governor want to avert a Dec. 15 crisis, then they should be using their good offices to get the MTA to bargain seriously," said Katzman.
More than 7 million people ride MTA buses and trains each day.
Also Friday, the union went to court to prevent the city and MTA from attempting to bar the union from discussing a strike in its meetings. The city won a court order banning such discussions the last time the union nearly went on strike in 1999.
"The city and the Transit Authority should not try to hold a club over the heads of the union and the union members," said Arthur Schwartz, general counsel of the union.
Officials from the union, the city and the transit agency will discuss the issue in court Monday morning.
Bloomberg said Friday a strike would force the city to spend $10 million a day on police overtime and millions more on emergency bus and ferry service; cripple business at restaurants and theaters on Broadway; leave 600,000 children with no way to get to school -- which would cost the city millions in state revenue; and disproportionately harm low-income people who are particularly reliant on public transportation.
"It would be phenomenally damaging to the city," said the mayor.
The mayor's comments came one day after transit union president Roger Toussaint said the MTA was trying to force a strike after the agency presented a contract offer with no raises and a 2.3 percent pay cut the third year.
The union's members are scheduled to meet Saturday to determine how to respond to the MTA proposal.
The agency is facing a $1 billion deficit next year and a $1.7 billion deficit the following year. The MTA board will vote later this month on a proposal that could raise subway fares from $1.50 to $2, cut services or do a combination of both to close the deficit.
Transit workers are seeking a 24 percent pay increase over three years and more input on safety procedures. Last month, two subway workers were killed in two days while working in the tunnels.
The state's Taylor Law prohibits public employees from striking. Both Bloomberg and Gov. George Pataki have said that in the event of a strike, the government would respond quickly -- and forcefully -- including seeking an immediate court injunction and fines from both the union and its individual members.
The transit union last threatened to strike in 1999 over a contract that gave members a raise of more than 9 percent over four years.
The city's last transit strike, in 1980, shut down service for 11 days. The union was slapped with $1.25 million in fines.
They want a 24% pay increase over three years?! They already make $45,000 - $70,000 a year for a job that requires no college degree!
Comment