I believe that New York's transit strike is a great education to us as first immigrants and to our second generation of our kids.
No one is above law in America though people write law. No one is an absolute super power though someone or some group might be more powerful and influential. No one is absolute winner or loser in a battle though some or some groups might get a little bit more. And bargaining and compromising is always the best way to solve issues.
New York's transit strike is a very good example to tell us that labor union is very powerful and influential in America, so the is the company. Every one has equal right, opportunity and has their own unique means to fight for their interests. However, he/she has to follow the laws. Government has absolute authority to step in the argument and stop the strike. Bottom line is that employees have to go back to work if residential daily life was jeopardized. Both super court and government authority has absolute authority and power to force the two or multiple sides get back to the negotiable table and even force the employees back to work first and then solve the issues later.
I believe it is very instructive and educational to follow New York's transit strike.
***
Here is the new report of New York's transit strike from USAToday. Please read it if you like.
NYC Transit Union Officials to Face Judge
By DAVID B. CARUSO
The Associated Press
Thursday, December 22, 2005; 9:14 AM
NEW YORK -- With union leaders under mounting pressure to end New York's transit strike, negotiators with the union and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority returned early Thursday to the hotel where talks had been held before the walkout.
It was unclear if the two sides were talking directly or with a mediator, but the gathering raised the possibility of a breakthrough as commuters began their third straight day without subways and buses. The two sides showed up at the hotel at around 1 a.m.
A crowd moves along 33rd Street in front of Pennsylvania Station as commuters move through lines for the Long Island Railroad during the second day of a city wide transit strike against subways and buses Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2005 in New York. The railroad, which usually services suburbs of Long Island, is now making local stops in parts of the city's outer boroughs. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) (Julie Jacobson - AP)
State Supreme Court Justice Theodore Jones ordered Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint and his deputies to appear in court Thursday at 11 a.m., suggesting that jail time was a "distinct possibility."
Toussaint suggested at a news conference Wednesday that the union may resume negotiations and possibly go back to work without a contract if the MTA took its current pension proposal off the table.
"We are prepared to resume negotiations right now, right this minute with the MTA," Toussaint said. "If the pension was taken off the table that would form the basis for us to ask our members to go back to work."
At the same news conference, Toussaint said the mayor had recently used offensive language to characterize union members when he said the union "thuggishly" turned its back on New York.
"We are not thugs," Toussaint said. "It points to the problem at the MTA that is shared by the city fathers and the state fathers. ... We find it extremely regrettable."
The contract covering 33,000 transit workers expired last week, and the union called the strike Tuesday morning despite a state law banning public employee strikes.
Millions of New Yorkers braved another frigid commute Thursday, streaming into commuter rail hubs, hiking over bridges and pouring into cars and cabs. Some tried to hitch a ride.
Groups of commuters huddled at designated areas to be picked up by company vans or buses or prearranged car pools. The scarves, hats and warm coats were back paired with running shoes or hiking boots.
A significant amount of people appeared to be getting ready to leave town, packing up cars with gifts and luggage.
On Manhattan's East Side, traffic was moving smoothly during the early part of the morning rush. But the story was different the night before, said Yves Desrmeaux, 47, a Manhattan parking lot attendant who lives in Brooklyn.
"Traffic was dense coming over the Manhattan Bridge," he said. "It (the strike) has really made a significant difference. But the transit workers work hard. I hope the MTA gives them something to make them happy this Christmas."
Others were not daunted by the strike.
A crowd moves along 33rd Street in front of Pennsylvania Station as commuters move through lines for the Long Island Railroad during the second day of a city wide transit strike against subways and buses Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2005 in New York. The railroad, which usually services suburbs of Long Island, is now making local stops in parts of the city's outer boroughs. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) (Julie Jacobson - AP)
"Rain, sleet, snow or strike, we'll get to work," vowed Paul Jensen, the office manager at the Weber Shandwick public relations firm in midtown.
The judge has already imposed a $1 million-per-day fine on the union for defying an order barring the strike _ a punishment that would not take effect until appeals are complete.
But in an effort to put more pressure on the union, city lawyers asked the judge to issue another order directing union members to return to work. If the order was ignored, the city could ask for fines beyond the docked-pay penalties already faced by striking workers, said Michael A. Cardozo, New York City's corporation counsel.
The fines could range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand, and would come out of the workers' pockets, rather than union coffers.
In preparation for such an action, the city was making plans to serve legal papers on striking workers whenever they might be found, including picket lines and at their homes.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg continued to blast the union, saying the strike "needs to end, and it needs to end right now." He questioned how union leaders could claim the walkout would benefit the city's working class when the strike is causing economic harm to New York.
Toussaint was angered by the "thuggish" characterization.
"We wake up at 3 and 4 in the morning to move the trains in this town," Toussaint said. "That's not the behavior of thugs and selfish people."
A chief sticking point for the union has been the pension proposal to raise contributions to the pension plan for new workers from 2 percent to 6 percent. The union contends it is woefully inadequate and would be impossible to accept.
Bloomberg, who isn't directly involved in the strike talks, said he didn't think putting union leaders in jail was appropriate.
"The fines are what is going to hurt," he said. "Fines don't make you a martyr and fines you don't get back."
No one is above law in America though people write law. No one is an absolute super power though someone or some group might be more powerful and influential. No one is absolute winner or loser in a battle though some or some groups might get a little bit more. And bargaining and compromising is always the best way to solve issues.
New York's transit strike is a very good example to tell us that labor union is very powerful and influential in America, so the is the company. Every one has equal right, opportunity and has their own unique means to fight for their interests. However, he/she has to follow the laws. Government has absolute authority to step in the argument and stop the strike. Bottom line is that employees have to go back to work if residential daily life was jeopardized. Both super court and government authority has absolute authority and power to force the two or multiple sides get back to the negotiable table and even force the employees back to work first and then solve the issues later.
I believe it is very instructive and educational to follow New York's transit strike.
***
Here is the new report of New York's transit strike from USAToday. Please read it if you like.
NYC Transit Union Officials to Face Judge
By DAVID B. CARUSO
The Associated Press
Thursday, December 22, 2005; 9:14 AM
NEW YORK -- With union leaders under mounting pressure to end New York's transit strike, negotiators with the union and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority returned early Thursday to the hotel where talks had been held before the walkout.
It was unclear if the two sides were talking directly or with a mediator, but the gathering raised the possibility of a breakthrough as commuters began their third straight day without subways and buses. The two sides showed up at the hotel at around 1 a.m.
A crowd moves along 33rd Street in front of Pennsylvania Station as commuters move through lines for the Long Island Railroad during the second day of a city wide transit strike against subways and buses Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2005 in New York. The railroad, which usually services suburbs of Long Island, is now making local stops in parts of the city's outer boroughs. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) (Julie Jacobson - AP)
State Supreme Court Justice Theodore Jones ordered Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint and his deputies to appear in court Thursday at 11 a.m., suggesting that jail time was a "distinct possibility."
Toussaint suggested at a news conference Wednesday that the union may resume negotiations and possibly go back to work without a contract if the MTA took its current pension proposal off the table.
"We are prepared to resume negotiations right now, right this minute with the MTA," Toussaint said. "If the pension was taken off the table that would form the basis for us to ask our members to go back to work."
At the same news conference, Toussaint said the mayor had recently used offensive language to characterize union members when he said the union "thuggishly" turned its back on New York.
"We are not thugs," Toussaint said. "It points to the problem at the MTA that is shared by the city fathers and the state fathers. ... We find it extremely regrettable."
The contract covering 33,000 transit workers expired last week, and the union called the strike Tuesday morning despite a state law banning public employee strikes.
Millions of New Yorkers braved another frigid commute Thursday, streaming into commuter rail hubs, hiking over bridges and pouring into cars and cabs. Some tried to hitch a ride.
Groups of commuters huddled at designated areas to be picked up by company vans or buses or prearranged car pools. The scarves, hats and warm coats were back paired with running shoes or hiking boots.
A significant amount of people appeared to be getting ready to leave town, packing up cars with gifts and luggage.
On Manhattan's East Side, traffic was moving smoothly during the early part of the morning rush. But the story was different the night before, said Yves Desrmeaux, 47, a Manhattan parking lot attendant who lives in Brooklyn.
"Traffic was dense coming over the Manhattan Bridge," he said. "It (the strike) has really made a significant difference. But the transit workers work hard. I hope the MTA gives them something to make them happy this Christmas."
Others were not daunted by the strike.
A crowd moves along 33rd Street in front of Pennsylvania Station as commuters move through lines for the Long Island Railroad during the second day of a city wide transit strike against subways and buses Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2005 in New York. The railroad, which usually services suburbs of Long Island, is now making local stops in parts of the city's outer boroughs. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) (Julie Jacobson - AP)
"Rain, sleet, snow or strike, we'll get to work," vowed Paul Jensen, the office manager at the Weber Shandwick public relations firm in midtown.
The judge has already imposed a $1 million-per-day fine on the union for defying an order barring the strike _ a punishment that would not take effect until appeals are complete.
But in an effort to put more pressure on the union, city lawyers asked the judge to issue another order directing union members to return to work. If the order was ignored, the city could ask for fines beyond the docked-pay penalties already faced by striking workers, said Michael A. Cardozo, New York City's corporation counsel.
The fines could range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand, and would come out of the workers' pockets, rather than union coffers.
In preparation for such an action, the city was making plans to serve legal papers on striking workers whenever they might be found, including picket lines and at their homes.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg continued to blast the union, saying the strike "needs to end, and it needs to end right now." He questioned how union leaders could claim the walkout would benefit the city's working class when the strike is causing economic harm to New York.
Toussaint was angered by the "thuggish" characterization.
"We wake up at 3 and 4 in the morning to move the trains in this town," Toussaint said. "That's not the behavior of thugs and selfish people."
A chief sticking point for the union has been the pension proposal to raise contributions to the pension plan for new workers from 2 percent to 6 percent. The union contends it is woefully inadequate and would be impossible to accept.
Bloomberg, who isn't directly involved in the strike talks, said he didn't think putting union leaders in jail was appropriate.
"The fines are what is going to hurt," he said. "Fines don't make you a martyr and fines you don't get back."
