NYC Transit Strike...

[YoungRemy]

its down to the 25th Hour. Midnight Eastern is the deadline and the transit workers union strikes if the Metro Transit Authority does not give in to their demands...


the city would be crippled, schools will still open, but on a two hour delay...

Ive been working two jobs lately for some extra holiday money, I would be screwed.

what about the rest of you? ever dealt with this kind of nonsense before??

it happened in Philly recently, but the last time in NYC was in 1980 for 11 days...

I personally want to see it happen , because its been a bunch of hype in the past, lets play some hardball I say...

[Drederick Tatum]

I personally want to see a giant ape battle a T.Rex. how many movies have that?

[monkey]

i have finals. a strike wouldnt be so good. but... ehh... i dont care much. it would be interesting to see people walk.

[TurdBerglar]

bunch of fuckn' pussies. just work

[YoungRemy]

no transit strike at this time...talks continue...no transit strike at this time...talks continue...no transit strike at this time...talks continue...

thats the ticker on New York 1

[DapperDiverge]

hey, do you think that the transit strikers should be fired? Reagan did it to the ones back in the 80's...

personally I think it's extremely irresponsible.

Oh God, the resession happened right after that!!!

It could happen again!!! Oh god the economy!!! the meyhem!! oh the humanity!!!! :eek:

[yeahwho]

These guys are tight, I like 'em.....they are looking out for all involved against an ever encroaching, almost militant govermental stance of "make the middle-class pay" mentality.

Whats the point of continuing on if the job just becomes a fucking joke that some elected officials dismantled and gave away?

[BGirl]

well I guess I'm not going downtown shopping or to see our friends' band :(

hubby's taking his bike to work today (unless he decides to carpool with some coworkers, but he doesn't want to be dependent on them)

this is gonna be crazy

[monkey]

we stayed up basically all night to find out that we could sleep late! this couldve ended poorly for me.

[Loppfessor]

I personally want to see a giant ape battle a T.Rex. how many movies have that?


What about movies where a giant ape battles like 3 T-Rexes at once???!!

[yeahwho]

WILD! Checkout the Blog, link (http://twulocal100.blogspot.com./)

I'm amazed, that takes some balls to do what they're doing. WOW!

Impressive.

[YoungRemy]

this is going to be a crazy week....

the deadline was extended to last might at midnight, then the transit workers struck...

people are walking the Brooklyn Bridge to work as we speak...


fuck that, I aint going anywhere...

and I have to fly out of Laguardia on Friday...

:(

[BionicEye]

I rollerbladed over the Queensboro/59th Street bridge today to get to work... ouch. Drinking that hot Red Cross coffee after breathing that cold air wasnt such a good idea.

[ms.peachy]

Seriously, how long is this thing likely to go on? Because we're flying into JFK on Fri afternoon and then we're supposed to be picking up our rental car and then staying at the Hudson for 2 nights. But if we can't drive into Manhattan because of all this carpooling business I don't want to pay for a car I can't use.

[BionicEye]

NO one knows how long it will go on... like Remy said, last time it was 11 days. Hopefully this one'll be over by Friday!!!!!!!!!

[YoungRemy]

peachy, the carpool restrictions are in effect below 96th street between the hours of 5 and 11 AM...

i dont know about evening restictions as of yet...

all I know is I paid for my metrocard at the beginning of the month and this is a fine way to screw over the citizens of NYC...

and to think they gave us a "holiday bonus" of four extra days for monthly metrocards...

this all stems from the MTA's "budget surplus": they found an extra billion dollars or so just lying around and they gave new york subway riders half price fares on the weekend and four extra days on a monthly matrocArd...

but the Transit workers get nothing out of the surplus and this is why they are striking... their main demands are lowering the retirement age, 8% vs. 3% wage increase, and better benefits(not having to pay out of pocket for their own benefits)

also, interestingly enough, Bionic, you mention Red Cross- they are treating this like an emergency: FEMA is invloved, the Office of Emergency Management, the police and fire departments set up HQ in Brooklyn Navy Yards...

can I take back my statement?? I never would wish this upon any city that depends on mass transit, but I have to say the transit workers are fighting for something that will affect their lives and their childrens lives, they cant get walked all over by the MTA forever...

Fuck the MTA

[bigblu89]

Yeah, shit's pretty fucked in the City today.

Even the L.I.E. is in HOV4 mode anywhere west of the Grand Central, meaning all cars traveling must have at least 4 people in it.

I'm heading in to the City the Monday after Xmas, but not going anywhere further than walking distance from Penn Station/MSG.

Knicks Vs Nets that night. That's what I'm about.

[abcdefz]

Wow. How inconvenient.

I have no idea what the transit people are demanding, but it's got to be more than a little thrilling to see what the power of organized labor can do.


I can see the day coming
When even your home garden
Is gonna be against the law

[TAL]

Vrooom

[monkey]

It is such a beautifully chilly sunny day. The traffic on the FDR is low, which is rather creepy for a Tuesday morning. Actually, from my POV, there is diminished traffic, although I know that's going to change once the HOV restrictions are lifted and the traffic from the bridges and tunnels head into the city.
I love living through things like this. I might walk the brooklyn bridge later just in kinship.

[instigator7022]

My buddy's dad is picketing today. I think it's interesting that he will drive all the way to his job in NY just to strike. I think it would be more of a strikey act if he just stayed home.

ANYWAY maybe obesity will decrease with everyone walking.

[YoungRemy]

"Broadway productions will continue to play their regular performance schedules, Alan Cohen, Director of Communications of the League of American Theatres and Producers, told Playbill.com Dec. 20."

[Extra Cheese]

Actually, from my POV, there is diminished traffic,

???????????

shits been crazy everywhere since like 4 in the morning.

[YoungRemy]

wish me luck, I'm off to work in the Upper West Side...

the afterschool program is still running, but my morning job I was given the day off...

tomorrow, I might have to break out the bicycle...

[Bourgie]

its down to the 25th Hour. Midnight Eastern is the deadline and the transit workers union strikes if the Metro Transit Authority does not give in to their demands...


the city would be crippled, schools will still open, but on a two hour delay...

Ive been working two jobs lately for some extra holiday money, I would be screwed.

what about the rest of you? ever dealt with this kind of nonsense before??

it happened in Philly recently, but the last time in NYC was in 1980 for 11 days...

I personally want to see it happen , because its been a bunch of hype in the past, lets play some hardball I say...

My dad is a transit worker in NYC. One reason why I wouldn't want them to strike, is that each day they're on strike, they get docked 2 days pay. That's less income my dad is getting! My family personally wouldn't be affected much because my mom works and brings in a good amount of income but for other transit families that may not be the case.

....but then again, it's the principle behind it that's cool... definitely going to stir up some crazy shit!

[monkey]

???????????

shits been crazy everywhere since like 4 in the morning.

FDR @ kips bay. I have a lovely view from my window. not that much traffic. 1st ave is pretty clean too.

[beastiegirrl101]

can't you just rollerblade? That is the answer to everything isnt it?

[CJM]

fruit-boots!


that sucks about the strikes, but when people aren't making enough money for shit (and they don't get a fair bonus from extra money found), then what else can they do?

[Rich Cheney]

they should fucking deal with it. they shut down the biggest city in the world over this -

PENSIONS: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority had originally wanted to raise the age at which new employees become eligible for full a pension from 55 to 62. The union balked at that proposal. The MTA later agreed to allow pension eligibility to remain at 55 for new employees, but asked that the new workers contribute 6 percent of their salaries for their first 10 years of employment.

WAGES: The MTA had proposed annual raises of 3 percent. The union wanted higher pay increases; a later MTA offer included annual raises of 3 percent, 4 percent and 3.5 percent.

HEALTH: The MTA wants new employees to contribute 1 percent of their salary to pay for health insurance. Transit workers currently do not have to pay anything for health insurance.

SECURITY: The union wants disaster-preparedness training for its work force, following transit system bombings in Madrid and London.

HOLIDAYS: The latest MTA proposal also included added the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

DISCIPLINE: The TWU would like to eleiminate several rules and penalties that go with them. The union considers these rule and penalties "draconian."

[wrongwayandugg]

ugg.

[BionicEye]

can't you just rollerblade? That is the answer to everything isnt it?


That's my answer. just like ive said eleventy million times before. fuck i have to do it again in 20 minutes. its fucking cold!

[YoungRemy]

its fucking freezing out.

no way i am riding my bike in this...

just took another day off my morning job near Penn Station, thats $100 lost in two days...

FUCK THE TWU, FUCK THE MTA...

get me out of this God Forsaken Town!!

[BGirl]

Hubby must be made of stronger stuff than you YoungRemy, he just rode his bike in again today. :p

So I've been making do with the shops in my neighborhood.. still holding out hope I can run downtown tomorrow morning.. (and be back in time for bboy radio :D)

Our friend who lives in the building and works down in Soho drove his coworkers.. two in the Bronx and one on the Upper West Side. He left at 7:30 AM and got in at 11 (yesterday). They made some mistakes and bad choices on the drive down he said, I'll be curious to hear how it went today. He was supposed to be off work today but they needed his driving services so he had to work, poor guy.

[burbboi]

what about the rest of you? ever dealt with this kind of nonsense before??



Up here in Ottawa (Canada's capital), a strike was narrowly averted a few weeks ago much like the NYC metro case. Long story short, the drivers wanted salaries comparable to cops and some of their existing benefits were being changed in some way which they didn't like. There was more to the issue of course but i believe that was the gist of it.

Personally, they should count themselves lucky to even have a job. One of the drawbacks I see in unions is the heightened sense of entitlement many people feel. I'm generalizing of course, but that's my opinion.

[YoungRemy]

Hubby must be made of stronger stuff than you YoungRemy, he just rode his bike in again today. :p



I bit the bullet and rode on Thursday!! mainly to say I rode my bike to work during the Transit Strike of 2005...

it was only 65 blocks down Amsterdam, I enjoyed it...

this morning, I took a cab anyway to get to Laguardia, even though the strike is over...