Posted on 12/07/2002 8:16:45 PM PST by foreverfree
DECEMBER 07, 22:18 ET
NY Transit Union OKs Possible Strike
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City transit workers have authorized union leaders to call a strike if contract talks with the city fail, union officials said Saturday.
The union's executive board could make the decision Dec. 15, when the current contract expires, said union president Roger Toussaint.
``Our members moved a resolution to authorize the executive board of Local 100 to call a strike if all else fails,'' he said. Thousands of the 34,000 union members attended a meeting to vote on the resolution.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said a walkout by the subway and bus employees would force the city to spend an additional $10 million a day in police overtime while traffic would increase over the holidays. ``A strike would be illegal and phenomenally damaging to our city,'' he said.
State law bars strikes by public employees. The last transit strike in the city was in April 1980.
The city's transit agency offered no raises the first year of a proposed three-year pact and said it may negotiate raises for the last two years if the union increased its productivity.
``The municipal workforce ... has to understand that the days of getting raises without improving productivity are over,'' Bloomberg said. The city is facing a budget deficit of as much as $6 billion next year.
More than 7 million people ride MTA buses and trains each day, making the city's public transit system by far the nation's largest.
Copyright 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
foreverfree
Bloomberg is an SOB, but even he understands the obvious.
If they did, wouldn't that mean a fare increase? :-)
foreverfree
we won't get a nickel but niether will they!!
I ride the NYC Transit System everyday and I can't think of one reason it shouldn't be open season on anyone that works there!!!
Especially the gum-snapping Black Female Token Clerks...
think about it they are snotty, unhelpful, snotty, slow, snotty, and they contunuously snap gum while they are not doing a damn thing except picking up a large paycheck!!!
Of course I could be wrong!!
Giuliani was so ruthless that anyone who called out sick on the day of the strike deadline had to verify their illness with a doctor's note or they were arrested for taking part in an illegal strike.
I think this is one reason why the union is more pissed off this time -- they were so beaten down last time that they settled immediately without having many of their demands met.
then and only then can you diss Giuliani!!!
I was on Giuliani's side in that one. I just wanted to give a little historical perspective on this labor dispute.
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