Transit Strike Plans
Take Eastern Parkway out to Bushwick Ave.
Take the Jackie Robinson east to the Van Wyck North.
Take the Van Wyck north to Northern Blvd. West.
You're at the Big Shea, home of los Mets.
Walk over the little bridge spanning the #7 tracks, and get on the Long Island Rail Road, heading west.
10 minutes later you're at Penn Station.
Don't worry if you don't see Shea on the LIRR schedules - all trains will stop there during strike.
Park Slope has two car pool staging areas. One at Byrne Park, 5th Ave and 3rd St, and the Bartel-Pritchard Square across the street from the Pavilion movie theater. If you have a car and have to head in ... good places to pick up folks. I'll bet Flatbush Avenue will be the casual place to pick up people to head over the bridge....
If you don't have a car and are in walking distance of the Atlantic Center, take the LIRR to Jamaica, then transfer to the LIRR to Penn Station.
If you work downtown a bit take the PATH train at 6th Ave/33rd St. Lat stop in NYC is Christopher St. Take it all the way to Hoboken, change there for a train to the WTC if you like riding trains all day.
If you work uptown, get those boots out.
Better yet ...
Take the LIRR at Atlantic Avenue to Jamaica.
Go upstairs and take the Air Train to JFK.
Go to terminal 6 and get on a Jet Blue plane flying south.
Take the Jackie Robinson east to the Van Wyck North.
Take the Van Wyck north to Northern Blvd. West.
You're at the Big Shea, home of los Mets.
Walk over the little bridge spanning the #7 tracks, and get on the Long Island Rail Road, heading west.
10 minutes later you're at Penn Station.
Don't worry if you don't see Shea on the LIRR schedules - all trains will stop there during strike.
Park Slope has two car pool staging areas. One at Byrne Park, 5th Ave and 3rd St, and the Bartel-Pritchard Square across the street from the Pavilion movie theater. If you have a car and have to head in ... good places to pick up folks. I'll bet Flatbush Avenue will be the casual place to pick up people to head over the bridge....
If you don't have a car and are in walking distance of the Atlantic Center, take the LIRR to Jamaica, then transfer to the LIRR to Penn Station.
If you work downtown a bit take the PATH train at 6th Ave/33rd St. Lat stop in NYC is Christopher St. Take it all the way to Hoboken, change there for a train to the WTC if you like riding trains all day.
If you work uptown, get those boots out.
Better yet ...
Take the LIRR at Atlantic Avenue to Jamaica.
Go upstairs and take the Air Train to JFK.
Go to terminal 6 and get on a Jet Blue plane flying south.
Comments
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Subject: re: transit strike
look, i really doubt this will happen. the taylor law (nys public sector labor law) imposes draconian fines on both unions and workers who participate in work actions. if they do this, each member is on the hook for 2X their days pay, for each day they strike. so is the union - that means 4X an average days pay, for union and members combined, if the twu strikes.....they're just leveraging the city at the perfect time - the holidays!! -
Subject: Re: re: transit strike
uniongut wrote: look, i really doubt this will happen. the taylor law (nys public sector labor law) imposes draconian fines on both unions and workers who participate in work actions. if they do this, each member is on the hook for 2X their days pay, for each day they strike. so is the union - that means 4X an average days pay, for union and members combined, if the twu strikes.....they're just leveraging the city at the perfect time - the holidays!!
i think you're exactly right on this one. remember the almost-strike about two years ago.... -
I remember that strike too but I started getting worried when I heard that the union had millions of dollars saved up in advance to pay fines with...
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Subject: strike update
word is that the strike is not going to happen. just heard that from a friend who know someone working for TWU. it appears they may settle by tonight, or "stop the clock" and work on it for a few more days.....
but, please, don;t stop your strike transportation plans on that info. i'd hate to leave y'all hanging!! -
EmilyM wrote: I remember that strike too but I started getting worried when I heard that the union had millions of dollars saved up in advance to pay fines with...
I think they had the cash on hand last time too. I feel like it's election night...waiting up for results that aren't going to happen...
They'll "stop the clock" if it doesn't get settled. I think Monsieur Union Guy is right. -
Subject: Re: strike update
unionguy wrote: word is that the strike is not going to happen. just heard that from a friend who know someone working for TWU. it appears they may settle by tonight, or "stop the clock" and work on it for a few more days.....
do any of these plans involve that Toussaint guy getting punched right in the mouth, because i'd volunteer myself to do that....
but, please, don;t stop your strike transportation plans on that info. i'd hate to leave y'all hanging!! -
Subject: Re: strike update
J0518 wrote:
why for you hate Toussaint? I dig the lyrical accent . . . nice contrast.
do any of these plans involve that Toussaint guy getting punched right in the mouth, because i'd volunteer myself to do that....
you know, when you have to listen to these no-info press conferences for days on end . . . -
Subject: strike
why the animus towards toussant? he's doing what he feels he needs to do to make sure that his members get a fair deal. while none of us are at the bargaining table, i have heard that the hotbutton issues include givebacks on pension for new hires, and removing one man from each train. that would be a major set back for existing workers, as well as new owkres coming in. the current admin in this city refuses to deal fairly with union employees. i applaud the mta for at least attempting to stand up to them!! -
Subject: Re: re: transit strike
uniongut wrote: look, i really doubt this will happen. the taylor law (nys public sector labor law) imposes draconian fines on both unions and workers who participate in work actions. if they do this, each member is on the hook for 2X their days pay, for each day they strike. so is the union - that means 4X an average days pay, for union and members combined, if the twu strikes.....they're just leveraging the city at the perfect time - the holidays!!
That is the good thing about Unions--to be able to leverage for fair labor practices--and if that means screwing up our shopping, oh well. The Taylor Law is a Republican dream--break Unions and step on blue collar workers.
My father was a teacher and DID used to strike (when it was necesary) and was fined under the Taylor Law. I think a strike is unlikely but definitely possible. -
Subject: Re: re: transit strike
Kensingtonmom wrote: That is the good thing about Unions--to be able to leverage for fair labor practices--and if that means screwing up our shopping, oh well. The Taylor Law is a Republican dream--break Unions and step on blue collar workers.
I never thought I'd say this, but I agree with Kensingtonmom 100%. -
The Taylor Law hardly "breaks unions." The unions affected by it seem to be going strong. Do you really think people who provide essential city services should be able to go on strike? Should firefighters be able to strike? How about the police?
People should be encouraged to live in cities and take public transportation. At a minimum, it's good for the environment. From a public policy perspective, having a functioning city in which people are able to use public transportation trumps the rights of the transit workers to strike. -
Subject: Re: re: transit strike
Kensingtonmom wrote: That is the good thing about Unions--to be able to leverage for fair labor practices--and if that means screwing up our shopping, oh well.
I never thought I'd say this, but I completely disagree with Kensingtonmom. I don't see what's so wonderful about being able to hold innocent bystanders (us, the average commuters) hostage. It's not about going to Macy's for Christmas shopping; my husband has a business in Manhattan to attend to; I have an important doctor's appt. Monday; many hundreds of thousands of people who keep the city running and live outside Manhattan (medical practitioners, educators, doormen, cabbies, you name it) are without recourse. Many people who in the end cannot get to work will lose pay and possibly (in the event of a long strike) their jobs. I believe there is a reason that people who perform such an essential, municipal job are prohibited by law to strike. -
Subject: freedom?
i find it interesting that, in a supposedly free country, if one works for the state of NY, you are not free to withold your labor.
or, more to the point, you are - but you are subject to fined equalling twice your daily pay, termination and possilbe jail time.
as for those who feel inconvienced by a strike: maybe we should be more concerned with the plight of working people in this country and our solidarity with them, rather than moaning about being delayed to work, or missing appointments.
please remember: without unions and strikes, we'd still have children working in factories; there'd be no such thin as an 8hr day; and we'd all be working weekends, for much, much less than we make now. mlk, many forget, was a union activist, and much of the civil rights movement was spurred on by the labor movement....horrible, i know. -
You are always free to withhold your labor. It's called resigning from your position.
I am pro-union, and also pro-Taylor law. The harm that will be caused by a transit strike far outweighs the potential benefits to the union and its members. There are other remedies available under the law. -
Subject: taylor law
what remedies under the taylor law?
there is no way that PERB can or will make the TA bargain fairly with the TWU...it's just not gonna happen. so you do what, file an impropper practice, wait over a year, just for the board to issue a statement that says, "mta, you really should bargain with the union"...come on. the taylor law is the most daconian labor law in the country. it strips labor of most weapons. did you know that, under taylor, if a state or city employee in another union publically endorses the TWU strike - he or she can also be fined and disciplined? yeah, great law. -
Anonymous wrote: The Taylor Law hardly "breaks unions." The unions affected by it seem to be going strong. Do you really think people who provide essential city services should be able to go on strike? Should firefighters be able to strike? How about the police? .
Unions are not strong anymore. The government has historically been complicit in breaking labor. Now we have monoliths like Wal-Mart locking employees up at night. There is no protection for most workers--we have capitalism with no checks and balances. Maybe these particular Unions (city workers) are going strong because they still have leverage--being able to completely *&^# up the city. So although I think it is complicated and dangerous (and it will be workign people who are most hurt by a strike)--I believe this country is going in the wrong direction with corporations doing whatever they want and workers no longer having any recourse to stand up to the powers that be. Whenever workers can win, I am for it. -
Subject: Re: freedom?
unionguy wrote: as for those who feel inconvienced by a strike: maybe we should be more concerned with the plight of working people in this country and our solidarity with them, rather than moaning about being delayed to work, or missing appointments.
If this was directed at me, unionguy, fear not: as the daughter of an immigrant who was exploited for fifty years (working for minimum wage with no health insurance, retiring with no pension after giving 6 days a week, nights, weekends, you name it, to an ungrateful employer, no pay for sick days, etc.) I have more sympathy for the truly disadvantaged blue-collar worker than you could know. I don't consider the transit workers' plight to be all that desperate. I am neither pro-union nor anti-union; I think it is a mistake in this case to automatically side with the transit workers just because in general in the past unions and labor strikes have achieved great things. I mean, you can't seriously compare the problems of the typical NYC transit job to child labor and 18-hour days. And I fail to see how you can associate the current situation with the civil rights movement. To say the least, Touissant is no Martin Luther King.
I still maintain that the people who will suffer the most under a full-blown mass transit strike are those in much more dire working conditions than the transit workers. -
Kensingtonmom wrote: Unions are not strong anymore. The government has historically been complicit in breaking labor. Now we have monoliths like Wal-Mart locking employees up at night. There is no protection for most workers--we have capitalism with no checks and balances. . . .
Believe me, if Walmart employees were striking, I'd be the first to support them. But Walmart employees and NYC transit employees are very different groups. I don't believe in the value of a monolithic "workers are always right by virtue of being workers; their employers are always wrong by virtue of being employers" mentality. Obviously, unionguy, yes, we still benefit from groundbreaking labor movements of generations past, and there are many worthy battles yet to be fought, but that doesn't mean that every union grievance must be ennobled by association.
I believe this country is going in the wrong direction with corporations doing whatever they want and workers no longer having any recourse to stand up to the powers that be. Whenever workers can win, I am for it. -
Very well put, Jane.
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Subject: strike
i disagree with the tenant that a transit strike is uncalled for because the people that work there are better off than, say, workers at walmart.
public service jobs are often the only means for underpriveldged people to access the middle class in this country. by going after the future of the transit workforce, the state is lessening the possiblity for future transit workers to 'get ahead'. without decent jobs that provide for economic advancement which are poen to folks who have been deprived a good education and access to other priviledges, we are ensuring that the gap between rich and poor (already enormous in the USA) will continue to widen.
i support any group of workers who feel they need to strike in order to ensure acess to middle class life for the future brothers and sisters. -
Have you noticed the starting pay of bus drivers for the MTA is $16.99?
I was just reading the subway posters advertising for new drivers - it's ridiculous.
If I read correctly, there's no pay increase for three years either.
I believe one of the sticking points on this contract is the benefits the new people will get, both for retirement and health insurance. JEEZ - the union better not sell out the future workers at those rates!
:shock: -
Subject: Re: strike
unionguy wrote: i disagree with the tenant that a transit strike is uncalled for because the people that work there are better off than, say, workers at walmart.
social workers with graduate degrees are starting out making in the mid 30's. they were without a contract for years, and there wasn't a peep about striking. why was that? because we put our clients first.
public service jobs are often the only means for underpriveldged people to access the middle class in this country. by going after the future of the transit workforce, the state is lessening the possiblity for future transit workers to 'get ahead'. without decent jobs that provide for economic advancement which are poen to folks who have been deprived a good education and access to other priviledges, we are ensuring that the gap between rich and poor (already enormous in the USA) will continue to widen.
i support any group of workers who feel they need to strike in order to ensure acess to middle class life for the future brothers and sisters.
we want it to be a free country when it is convinient for us to say "its a free country." when its not, we're the first to start putting restrictions on people. i'm as liberal as can be. in fact, i scored as a Socialist on the MyCupid Politics test. i STILL believe its absolutely ridiculous of these MTA workers to walk off their jobs. police officers should not be able to strike. firefighters should not be able to strike and, in this day in age, transit workers should not be able to strike.
...and we should be legally able to punch that Toussaint guy every time he shows up on our TV screens. i hate that bastard.
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Subject: Re: strike
J0518 wrote:
If you went to graduate school--you had opportunities that many people don't have. While it is honorable that you would put your client first, I also respect people who stand with each other in a united front to better the conditions for all of their co-workers. THAT takes courage.
social workers with graduate degrees are starting out making in the mid 30's. they were without a contract for years, and there wasn't a peep about striking. why was that? because we put our clients first.
It isn't only about money that they want to strike but it is safety issues and the pension and the disciplinary actions. I personally cannot imagine raising a family on $16/hour but we have been lowering wages so much this past 20 years and outsourcing jobs so we can buy what we want for as cheap as possible that suddenly $16 sounds pretty darn good--when it is NOT.
I agree with the poster who supports a wage to pull people out of poverty and into the middle class. And if that means a major disruption--so be it. That is how change happens. -
Subject: Re: strike
unionguy wrote: i disagree with the tenant that a transit strike is uncalled for because the people that work there are better off than, say, workers at walmart.
I didn't say any such thing. What I said was that in my opinion Walmart employees would be justified in striking, whereas the TA workers are not. I also made the point that a transit strike would penalize people unfortunate enough to have truly poor benefits and who cannot afford to miss a week of work or drive into their jobs. A strike would be especially punitive because it is extremely unlikely that it would achieve anything, i.e., that it would persuade Bloomberg to change his rather fixed position. He's been pretty clear about a strike not affecting the city's bargaining position, and I do believe that he wouldn't cave. -
Subject: Re: strike
citizen jane wrote: A strike would be especially punitive because it is extremely unlikely that it would achieve anything, i.e., that it would persuade Bloomberg to change his rather fixed position. He's been pretty clear about a strike not affecting the city's bargaining position, and I do believe that he wouldn't cave.
The TWU doesn't give a crap what Bloomberg thinks -- nor should they. He's got no authority over them or the MTA which is private/state agency. -
Subject: bllomberg
exactly....
bloomberg has NOTHING to do with this. the transit workers are, for the most part, state employees (except the bus drivers out in queens who, for the moment, are private sector employees - but soon to be state).
bloomberg can posture all he wants....he's merely trying to capitalize on the crisis. especially his vow to bike to work....kinda reminds me of W landing on the aircraft carrier...but anyway.
the one with power here is wacky pataki. and the fact is that he desires a republican bid for presidency. thus, in this day of the ultra-right wing repubs, he absolutely must not give in to the working class or organized labor. -
11:16 and looking pretty grim... the TWU representatives walked out at the proverbial 11th hour.
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Subject: Re: strike
Kensingtonmom wrote:
honestly, that's quite offensive. getting an education is not something reserved for the priviliged. it's something anyone, and i mean anyone, currently eating, sleeping, and drinking in this country can get.
If you went to graduate school--you had opportunities that many people don't have. While it is honorable that you would put your client first, I also respect people who stand with each other in a united front to better the conditions for all of their co-workers. THAT takes courage.
they're not bettering anything. the plan presented on the news as offered to them was extremely generous. they're holding this city hostage unfairly for selfish reasons and should be forced back to work immediately. -
honestly, that's quite offensive. getting an education is not something reserved for the priviliged. it's something anyone, and i mean anyone, currently eating, sleeping, and drinking in this country can get.
Really? Do you really not see a class and a race divide in our country? I am not sure if you are walking around with blinders on or don't leave your neighborhood but many many people are struggling. And their children are getting lousy educations in crummy neighborhoods where they are not going to have much of an opportunity to get a scholarship to a college. I can't believe you are a social worker and don't see the inequity of our society and how the divide is growing? -
Subject: class divide
Kensingtonmom wrote:
honestly, that's quite offensive. getting an education is not something reserved for the priviliged. it's something anyone, and i mean anyone, currently eating, sleeping, and drinking in this country can get.
Really? Do you really not see a class and a race divide in our country? I am not sure if you are walking around with blinders on or don't leave your neighborhood but many many people are struggling. And their children are getting lousy educations in crummy neighborhoods where they are not going to have much of an opportunity to get a scholarship to a college. I can't believe you are a social worker and don't see the inequity of our society and how the divide is growing?
I agree with you Kensingtonmom - that satement has to be one of the most shortsighted, uninformed opinions I've come across short of something on Fox news.
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