It's about 3:45 a.m. I've been up for a while, tensely checking and re-checking the news since the passing of the 12 midnight deadline for the transit workers union's negotiations with the MTA.
And now I know - as of about half an hour ago the 37,000 workers of the MTA have gone on strike. Lord only knows how long or how bad this will get, but I am aware of a number of folks - middle and lower class workers from across the five boroughs - who will have to endure great hardship as a result of this strike. Many workers who cannot get into the city will risk losing their jobs, and heaven help parents who have to coordinate their kids' movement as well. I saw one hotel manager on the news who has said he expects his employees to reside temporarily at work. This city is all kinds of shutting down, at the cost, I'm told, of roughly 400 milion dollars a day (a figure which does not reflect the increased business that should accompany the week before christmas).
I'll be the first to concede that I know only what I have read about the cause of this strike. But when Toussaint says the workers in his union will strike and that "this is not about money, it's about respect," I don't find myself on his side. It's the week before Christmas, it's cold out, and this will be very hard on a lot of people who really don't deserve it. Is it any wonder that this strike is illegal? All I ask is that it end soon. This could get very ugly.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I thought of you immediately when I heard of the strike this morning, especially when they had live shots of Bloomberg walking across the Brooklyn bridge to get to work. I thought "we did that!...but it wasn't 22 degrees out..." Please try to stay warm and I hope that this ends soon. In a city now famous for its triumph against adversity, I do wonder who (TWU) would choose to be "adverse" at this time of year... maybe Santa can give somebody a ride to the office.
Post a Comment