Posted on 12/22/2005 2:52:51 AM PST by Do not dub me shapka broham
December 22, 2005 -- A furious Brooklyn judge yesterday threatened to toss transit-union leaders in jail for ignoring his injunction against a walkout — calling it a "distinct possibility."
In a stunning announcement on the second day of the transit strike, Supreme Court Justice Theodore Jones ordered Roger Toussaint, head of Transport Workers Union Local 100, and union bigs Ed Watt and Darlyne Wilson to be in his court at 11 a.m. today.
The hearing could result in "one or more of these persons being sent to jail," the judge said. "That is a possibility and a distinct...
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
New Yorkers aren't happy!
Lock them up and throw away the key!!
At least, my attitude.
So can we expect Jesse Jackson coming to town?
Lock em up!
lock up the leaders.....fire the workers and send in the national guard to run things, till the new hires are in place.
Once again Thank you President Reagan for making even the thought of what I propose possible.
...Jones, who on Dec. 13 issued an injunction against the strike under the Taylor Law, which bars walkouts by public employees, imposed a $1 million-a-day fine on the union Tuesday.
The TWU bigshots could be sent to Rikers Island as soon as today's hearing as over.
Toussaint said his 33,700 members would return to work and resume negotiations if the MTA took any changes to their generous pension system off the table completely — a demand that was immediately rejected by agency Chairman Peter Kalikow as "outrageous."
"Threats and coercive tactics by any union leader violate the spirit of collective bargaining, as well as the Taylor Law," Kalikow said.
TWU lawyer Arthur Schwartz argued that hauling Toussaint into court would only halt the talks — and could make reaching a settlement even more difficult.
The developments came on a day of fast-breaking events:
* Stores, restaurants and museums were hit hard. Mayor Bloomberg said the strike was responsible for a 40 percent drop in restaurant business, an 80 percent decline in visitors at museums, a 90 percent decline in customers at the Fulton Mall in Downtown Brooklyn, and a 60 percent decrease along Fordham Road in The Bronx. FAO Schwarz closed early — at the height of the holiday toy-shopping season — to allow employees more time to get home.
* On the first day of winter, many outer-borough and suburban residents left home before sunrise, hoping to avoid the long lines that formed at commuter rail stations on Tuesday. They endured trips of two to four hours, but the lines were noticeably shorter at the Jamaica hub of the LIRR. The trip home was again a struggle at Penn Station, where officials corralled commuters with police barriers.
* Jones imposed fines of $50,000 and $75,000 on two other unions that joined the walkout. The TWU appealed the $1 million-a-day penalty, halting it until the courts rule.
* Jones is expected to rule today on a city civil lawsuit demanding that he order union members back to work. The city has sought escalating fines on the striking workers that would start at $25,000 per worker, and double each day. To prepare, the city is planning to serve legal papers on striking workers wherever they may be, including picket lines and at their homes.
* Gov. Pataki said negotiations would not resume while the workers are on strike. There will be "no walking and talking," he said.
* Hundreds of pickets marched outside large bus depots and subway yards in East New York and Coney Island, Brooklyn, warming their hands over garbage-can fires and chanting, "We are the union, the mighty union."
* The Rev. Al Sharpton and other black leaders blasted Bloomberg for calling union leaders "thuggish" on Tuesday. They said the comment was racist because the union is less than 30 percent white.
As he did Tuesday, Bloomberg called on the workers to end an "intolerable, unfortunate and unnecessary" strike.
"It needs to end and it needs to end right now," he said.
"Working people are the ones who are being hurt. The busboy is getting hurt, the garment-industry worker is getting hurt, the owners of mom-and-pop businesses. The ones getting hurt the most are the ones who can least afford it."
But the mayor said union leaders shouldn't be jailed.
"I would urge the judge not to put them in jail but to raise the fines," he said. "The fines are what is going to hurt. Fines don't make you a martyr and fines you don't get back.
At his news conference, Toussaint also blasted the mayor's use of "thuggish," calling it "undignified and unbecoming."
"We wake up at 3 and 4 in the morning to move the trains in this town," he said.
"That's not the behavior of thugs and selfish people."
Toussaint also compared his striking workers to civil-rights heroine Rosa Parks, and wrapped himself in the mantle of 9/11, saying transit workers made up 60 percent of the responders to the attacks.
The second day of the strike again found New Yorkers joining carpools, grabbing taxis, hopping on bikes and walking.
Patrick Franck, 31, who lives in Queens Village and teaches at the Academy of Environmental Science at 100th Street and Second Avenue in Manhattan, got up at 5:30 a.m. to make the trip to East Harlem.
"I've got to get to my job as a teacher," said Franck, who supports the strike. "It's 19 miles from my house. Nineteen miles is good exercise. You wouldn't want to do it everyday, but it's all right for now. I feel good." It took Franck five hours to get to work.
James Monroe, 55, a lithographer who lives in Woodside, Queens, walked home after finishing the night shift at his job in the West Village. "I'm walking about 10 or 11 miles," he said as he crossed the 59th Street Bridge. "I'm totally against the strike. I'm a union man, but if you break the law to make your point, it's not good."
He usually takes the N or R train to work and the trip takes 45 minutes.
On the critical pension issue so enraging to the union, the MTA had asked that new hires contribute 6 percent of their salaries toward their pensions. Current workers pay only 2 percent.
The strikers asked the state Public Employment Relations Board to remove any pension issue from the bargaining table on the grounds the MTA placed the 6 percent demand there at the 11th hour — and it is illegal to make pensions part of a final contract offer.
The TWU and other unions have traditionally negotiated pension benefits during contract talks, but the TWU said this time it was put forth by the MTA as a take-it-or-leave-it demand.
The state board has yet to rule.
After Toussaint's press conference, a dozen labor leaders joined him in asking the MTA to take the pension demand off the table.
Teachers-union President Randi Weingarten charged that it is "an illegal subject of bargaining," and said pension changes for all public employees should be handled by the state Legislature.
The MTA has taken steps to resolve the contract dispute through state-sponsored binding arbitration, which the union opposes.
In a statement, Kalikow reiterated the MTA's final offer: Wage increases of 3 percent, 4 percent and 3.5 percent in each year of a three-year contract; no changes to health insurance; and the hiring of a consultant to improve bus and subway disciplinary procedures.
http://www.masstransitmag.com/article/fullsection.jsp?siteSection=2&gclid=CPb0xbuNkIICFQ9LGgodZm-BAw
I just heard an spot from Larry Reuter-president of NYC Transit-on WABC, in what I can only presume is an escalation of the public relations campaign.
Reporter: "Mr. President, why did you fire all the air traffic controllers?"
Reagan: "It's illegal for them to strike. Looks like they quit to me."
I still laugh out loud when I think of that one.
To paraphrase, "Put your trust in the Lord, your ass belongs to me. Welcome to Rikers."
Al Sharpton would call my hair racist because it's less than 30% white
A few more days of striking, and I predict a lot of NY Dem/Libs won't be able to stop the Conservative that's inside them, trying to break out.
ping
Heeheeheeheeheehee.........
Yep, Mr. Reagan had principles and stood by them.
I doubt you'll see anyone thusly now.
Look at the donations to Hilliary. No wonder she's kept her yap shut.
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