How the TWU Blew It

carnivore · May 2006

Idlewild wrote: How many more meandering replys/posts till page 3?

78.

There's 100 posts per page. It doesn't matter how long each post is.

drano · May 2006

zOMG it is teh RACISM!

Eh. Shoulda known there would be a white guilt cash-in attempt. The good news is I don't give a rat's ass what motives anyone wishes to assign to my anti-TWU statements.

But I'll tell you the truth anyway. I have found that my PhD in anthropology from Princeton has not been quite the ticket to riches that I envisioned. What with the trust fund cupboard looking a bit bare these days, I'm starting to feel the pinch - even though my parents gave me my brownstone outright. It's getting so that I can barely afford to sit around Ozzie's all day and drink coffee while recording my thoughts on my anchient (Apple, thank you) laptop. I'm basically cut-off until Daddy croaks, and even then it's even money that my bitch sister talked him into writing me out of the will, although he denies it. Then I look at all these transit workers, and I'm like, "Damn man, they make a pretty good wage for sitting around in a box smelling their own farts all day! Maybe I could do that, at least until the old man takes a dirt nap! And health care coverage to die for! I totally want to get my teeth whitened!" Unfortunately, they haven't got back to me.

So it's totally jealousy and bitterness, k?

kosherdave · May 2006

bleeds wrote: Yet it is about race. DENIAL is weak and COWARDLY. I mentioned the FDNY. They're just as blue-collar as the MTA, yet white. They get overwhelming support for pay raises and such. Why?

If you READ what I wrote, you'd see I'd be just as opposed to an NYPD or police strike, and as you say, they're white (which is fucked up in itself; I walk by a Fire Dept every day to and from work and see people of all color working there), but assuming they're not pretending to not be white; are actually white people incognito, then you should at least believe me when I say it's not a race-motivated thing. After all, if they are white, and I'd oppose their strike, then how does that make me a racist, hmmmmmmmmmm? Or is it just that everything I say is a lie because I'm "white?" And by the way, I'm Jewish, so let's throw in some conspiracy theory too bud.

But this is waaaayyy off topic now. My point is a big F-U to the TWU for their illegal strike. that's all.

metulj · May 2006

Bump. Let's keep this fucker going until the next strike.

doctorj · May 2006

Drano wrote:
But I'll tell you the truth anyway. I have found that my PhD in anthropology from Princeton has not been quite the ticket to riches that I envisioned. What with the trust fund cupboard looking a bit bare these days, I'm starting to feel the pinch - even though my parents gave me my brownstone outright. It's getting so that I can barely afford to sit around Ozzie's all day and drink coffee while recording my thoughts on my anchient (Apple, thank you) laptop.

I'm not sure that what Dr. Drano is saying rings entirely true... everyone knows that anthropologists from Princeton are too hip to hang out in Ozzie's.

Still, it's comforting to hear that some people on this board understand first hand the mild discomfort associated with being a member of an under-oppressed minority.

drano · May 2006

I prefer Drano, Ph.D.

kosherdave · May 2006

Drano wrote: I prefer Drano, Ph.D.

Dr. Drano sounds cool in an ironic sorta way. And I think Ozzie's is a perfect place for an anthropologic study... of the PH natives :P

escap · May 2006

From NY1:

May 04, 2006

A published report Thursday says some Transport Workers Union members who claim to have never crossed the picket line during the December transit strike will still have their membership revoked for three years.

Workers who received a letter from the TWU informing them of the punishment tell the New York Post they honored the walkout and are being singled out because they oppose union leader Roger Toussaint.

However, the Local 100 executive board, which includes people opposed to Toussaint, sent out the letters.

An internal hearing will be held for any member who wishes to dispute their decision.

It's not clear how many of the letters were sent out.

I think this speaks for itself.

pensodyssey · May 2006

drj wrote: And the colonizer's mantra:
"Think Locally, Act Globally"

I thought that was a Debordism?

drj wrote: Do you ever wonder what on earth we're going to do post-globalization, when all markets are efficient and there's no where else to plunder/invest/arbitrage at returns higher than global growth (be that negative or positive when we come to it)? Faced with a level playing field, and prices reflecting true costs, how are governments and corporations going to placate the angry public?

Then the world economy, built on two things that don't correspond to anything with actual existence (interest and speculation), will collapse. Or so says Ezra Pound.

And I'm with kosherdave on this one. The TWU strike turned out to be devoid of meaning, and it ended up costing me not three days, but almost three weeks, because of my job schedule. They happened to strike during finals week, which were then moved into January (when there are normally no classes), which meant that I couldn't submit any grades until all students had made up finals, which meant I forfeited almost my entire month's vacation-- the only time off I get, since I teach in the summers too.

idlewild · May 2006

escap wrote: From NY1:
May 04, 2006

A published report Thursday says some Transport Workers Union members who claim to have never crossed the picket line during the December transit strike will still have their membership revoked for three years.

Workers who received a letter from the TWU informing them of the punishment tell the New York Post they honored the walkout and are being singled out because they oppose union leader Roger Toussaint.

However, the Local 100 executive board, which includes people opposed to Toussaint, sent out the letters.

An internal hearing will be held for any member who wishes to dispute their decision.

It's not clear how many of the letters were sent out.
I think this speaks for itself.

Are unions allowed to sanction/reprimand/punish members who don't honor picket lines? Speaking from the amrchair, it doesn't make sense if the union you vote to represent you and pay dues to can toss you out for a difference of opinion and/or not honoring the picket line. Is anyone well versed in this type of law? How about voting your union out completely? Is that allowed by law?

escap · May 2006

You're absolutely right that they shouldn't be allowed to, but I believe they can. Certainly my wife was told in no uncertain terms that if the teacher's union went on strike and she crossed the picket line that they would make her life hell in any way they could.

idlewild · May 2006

I'm not talking about harassment really. I'm talking about legal sanctions such as loss of benefits. Harassment, sorry to say, is part of the course of politics when one crosses the picket line. Unless you're talking about how the teacher's union would have sanctioned her.

escap · May 2006

You're right, they're two different issues. I read that the TWU threatened to revoke union membership and/or impose fines on those who crossed the picket lines. Whether or not they follow through, or what the legal nuances are, are beyond my knowledge.

homeowner · May 2006

Contract benefits are received as a result of the agreement between the employer and the union. The union can not take those benefits away from you for not supporting a strike. They can sanction you within the organization by doing things like limiting your participation in union elections, not providing you with expedient service for grievances, and generally any other petty "you are not a member in good standing" junior high bullshit they want to pull. Unions are basically voluntary organizations, employees don't have to join but if you don't the union still has the right to take some money out of your paycheck for the services it provides to all employees.

Unions can be replaced by other unions. Usually it involves getting enough members to indicate that they have an interest in voting for another union to represent them. Once this happens a vote can be taken by the membership. Coming in as an insurgent union is difficult and requires a fair amount of money and time. The people that are doing it need to have enough support to be able to get things like phone numbers, email, and contact information for all the members of the union.

This doesn't happen very often among unions (as most are affiliated with an international that will step in to mediate) but it has been known to happen occasionally. The state correction officers replaced their union back in the 90's after charges of mismanagement and fiscal improprieties were leveled against the leadership.

carnivore · September 2006

Sorry, but I am compelled to stir this thread up again! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Toussaint marched with the TWU at the parade yesterday. He seemed extremely popular with the crowd. Lots of people were calling him over to shake his hand.

livetotravel · September 2006

And Spitzer marched with him yesterday - here's a blurb from Jason Horowitz in yesterday's The Politicker . . .

On Message
FILE UNDER: Eliot Spitzer
Here's part of an actual conversation I had this morning with Eliot Spitzer and Roger Toussaint at the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn:

Spitzer: I'm standing here next to my friend Roger Toussaint and we're having a great parade and I couldn't be happier.
Toussaint: Beautiful ladies.

Spitzer: Yeah, as Roger will tell you, we're going to figure out how to manage the MTA so that we're not going to give away a billion dollars.

-- Jason Horowitz

September 04 04:15 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

drano · September 2006

Livetotravel wrote: And Spitzer marched with him yesterday - here's a blurb from Jason Horowitz in yesterday's The Politicker . . .

On Message
FILE UNDER: Eliot Spitzer
Here's part of an actual conversation I had this morning with Eliot Spitzer and Roger Toussaint at the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn:

Spitzer: I'm standing here next to my friend Roger Toussaint and we're having a great parade and I couldn't be happier.
Toussaint: Beautiful ladies.

Spitzer: Yeah, as Roger will tell you, we're going to figure out how to manage the MTA so that we're not going to give away a billion dollars.

-- Jason Horowitz

September 04 04:15 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

Okay, it's only 9:22 but that's the funniest thing I've read so far today. I can't wait to hear the big plan!

alex · September 2006

This is why they should all be fired and replaced by machines:

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/left_in_grip_of_rapist_regionalnews_erika_martinez.htm

September 18, 2006 -- In just 10 terrifying minutes, a subway rapist turned a young Brooklyn woman's promising future into a dark nightmare.

That's all the time it took for the thug to attack the 23-year-old, who asked to be identified only as "Nicole," inside a Queens subway station last year.

Nicole shared her harrowing story with The Post to highlight the indifference that she said was displayed by a NYC Transit station-booth clerk - who pressed a silent alarm button but remained in his booth as agency regulations dictate - while witnessing the crime.

"It's abominable what happened to me, but it's even scarier to think about it happening to countless scores of other women because policies weren't changed," Nicole told The Post.

The NYU grad was attacked during the early hours of June 7, 2005, as she rode a Queens-bound G train. The pervert first began to stroke her feet. Disgusted, Nicole got up and moved - only to be pursued by the creep.

She got off the train at the next stop, 21st Street in Long Island City, not realizing he had followed her until she felt his tongue on her foot.

"It freaked me out so much that I started running up the stairs," she said.

The creep caught up with her and began pulling her down the stairs as a screaming Nicole made eye contact with booth clerk John Koort.

"I had this thought that, 'Finally, I am safe, there is another person in here, I am not alone, I can get out of it,' " she recalled.

Instead, she was dragged down the steps and sexually assaulted on the platform before the pervert forced her into a filthy toolshed and fled.

She later learned that train conductor Harmodio Cruz had witnessed the crime as he rode by and pressed his own panic button but, he said, couldn't stop in time to help her.

Outraged by NYC Transit's policy that prevented Koort from doing more, she and lawyer Marc Albert have filed a negligence suit, alleging that the agency "failed to meet the standard of care owed . . . to their passengers."

Nicole said she forgives her "sick" assailant, who remains at large - but she has less charitable feelings for Koort.

"Every time I think about the token-booth guy . . . it just makes my blood boil. I really feel like he is not someone I can forgive," she said.

NYC Transit had no comment. Attempts to reach Koort and Cruz were unsuccessful.

[email protected]

escap · September 2006

Livetotravel wrote: And Spitzer marched with him yesterday - here's a blurb from Jason Horowitz in yesterday's The Politicker . . .

On Message
FILE UNDER: Eliot Spitzer
Here's part of an actual conversation I had this morning with Eliot Spitzer and Roger Toussaint at the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn:

Spitzer: I'm standing here next to my friend Roger Toussaint and we're having a great parade and I couldn't be happier.
Toussaint: Beautiful ladies.

Spitzer: Yeah, as Roger will tell you, we're going to figure out how to manage the MTA so that we're not going to give away a billion dollars.

-- Jason Horowitz

September 04 04:15 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

Well, thank god I didn't vote for Spitzer. Nor will I, ever. What a hypocrite. A man whose job is enforcing the law buddies up with a man who broke it. Nice. Looks like Spitzer was quick to make a name for himself going after Big Business (even though about 95% of the charges he brought during his crusade have either been dropped or resulted in acquittals) but is more than happy to cozy up to Big Labor. Prediction for the Spitzer decade to come: the state unemployment rate will double and its credit rating will be downgraded to somewhere in the 'B's. Oh well, I guess this will solve our city's gentrification problem...

How the TWU Blew It

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