NY transit strike

[henchmanUK]

Welcome to my world, Noo Yawkers and Merry Christmas!

[Diomedes]

ever try and ask a question to someone taking subway tokens? yeah, these miserable people deserve 8% a year.

All the time.  They answer my questions just fine.  Maybe you should stop asking stupid questions?

if you agree with their fight for more money, and when they get the 8% a year, there should be no complaining when the transit rates go up on a semi-annual basis.

They are already increasing at that rate, and the MTA has a billion + surplus. 

and how many years did you sacrifice in school to put yourself in that position MMH?

Sacrifice?  Gimme a break!

You social darwinists drive me nuts.

[ice grillin you]

it funny they said on cnn today that heads were completely lost up there cause a lot of people have never been above ground to travel...thus when they had to walk instead of train they had no idea where to go...looked like the mall parking lot in dawn of the dead

[Wingspan]

ever try and ask a question to someone taking subway tokens? yeah, these miserable people deserve 8% a year.

All the time.  They answer my questions just fine.  Maybe you should stop asking stupid questions?

if you agree with their fight for more money, and when they get the 8% a year, there should be no complaining when the transit rates go up on a semi-annual basis.

They are already increasing at that rate, and the MTA has a billion + surplus. 

why didnt you comment on the first line of my post which led to the parts you quoted? the parts saying that i think all pay raises should be based on merit and job performance?

if you get a crappy worker, who never shows any improvement, or cares to show improvement...why should they be just gaurenteed a pay raise every year.

in 5 years of doing a crappy job..slacking off...with no improvement of service, what makes that person deserve an 8% per year increase?

[Susquehanna Birder]

I'm thinking the 3% to 4% per year merit-basec increases are pretty much the norm for non-management jobs in the private sector. And the days of automatic cost-of-living raises are long gone. Regardless of whether that is good or bad, it is what it is, and I doubt there will be much sympathy from the typical private-sector worker.

[Philly_Crew]

I'm getting a 3.5% raise next year and last year got a 3% raise.  The year before was 0% with only a bonus.  Tell me again why a subway operator deserves 8%? 

From NY Times: "The union originally called for 8 percent annual raises, but late in the day it indicated that it would accept smaller increases if the authority agreed to decrease disciplinary actions against employees by 25 percent. The union did not say how much it was willing to trim its demand....Going into yesterday, the authority had offered two raises of 3 percent in a 27-month contract. On pensions, the authority wants to raise the retirement age for newly hired employees to 62 after 30 years of service, while the union wants to lower it to age 50 after 20 years of service. At present, transit workers can retire at age 55 after 25 years of work, with a pension equal to half their annual pay; the average is $55,000, including overtime."

Yeah, cry me a river, Nancy.

The fact that you are getting zesty raises doesn't require that they get zesty raises, too.  Maybe you should be pissed at yourself for accepting such lousy pay, rather than at the TWU.

So you get to retire at 50 after 20 years of service?  How can you ask to decrease disciplinary actions against employees by 25 percent?

Here are some more facts since you ignored the ones in my earlier post:

--Transit workers pay exactly zero out of their paychecks for health care benefits.

--The average salary of a unionized New York City Transit employee is $48,000. The salary of a New York City police officer with five years experience is $44,100.

[Zanshin]

They should go to arbitration, as dictated by law.

[Tomahawk]

If the CTA here in Chicago went on strike, i don't know what i'd do since i don't own a car or jetpack.

Buy and use a bicycle? 

DON'T BUY A BIKE!! YOUR NEIGHBORS WILL STEAL IT!

If they don't like the pay, let them seek employment elsewhere. Of course, this is coming from a guy that earned five raises in 5 quarters.

[Geowhizzer]

This one's getting even nastier.
Jail Threat Ups Ante for NYC Union Heads

[phattymatty]

Wah, I have to walk to work.  Wah.

[Diomedes]

I went in to the office today.  Took me about an hour-more or less normal-to get there, because I left around 10:30 a.m., after the crush.  Took Metro North from the Williams Bridge stop.

Coming home was another story.  Took 2 1/2 hours.  The lines were only barely controlled by the cops and MTA workers, but the individuals I saw were doing their best.  Too bad they didn't have a better plan to distribute information about what was happening.  The line I stood in wound serpentine back and forth, and had two tails for a while.  Grr.

But whatever.  We made it. 

Regarding merit pay increases, they're bullshtein.  How do you incentivize a subway trash collector?  This labor does not admit of contant improvement.  You either do the job, or you don't.  If you do it, then the city is grateful for your necessary service,  recognizes that it's a thankless job in a dark hole, and pays you enough to raise a family.  Or at least it should.

The money is there.  It's there for the teachers, fireman, and cops too.  The people in power just won't give it  up.  They'd rather we set upon one another.  Set the slaves against the crackers, and everyone forgets massa.

[fansince61]

I went in to the office today.  Took me about an hour-more or less normal-to get there, because I left around 10:30 a.m., after the crush.  Took Metro North from the Williams Bridge stop.

Coming home was another story.  Took 2 1/2 hours.  The lines were only barely controlled by the cops and MTA workers, but the individuals I saw were doing their best.  Too bad they didn't have a better plan to distribute information about what was happening.  The line I stood in wound serpentine back and forth, and had two tails for a while.  Grr.

But whatever.  We made it. 

Regarding merit pay increases, they're bullshtein.  How do you incentivize a subway trash collector?  This labor does not admit of contant improvement.  You either do the job, or you don't.  If you do it, then the city is grateful for your necessary service,  recognizes that it's a thankless job in a dark hole, and pays you enough to raise a family.  Or at least it should.

The money is there.  It's there for the teachers, fireman, and cops too.  The people in power just won't give it  up.  They'd rather we set upon one another.  Set the slaves against the crackers, and everyone forgets massa.

Whats the deal that ends this and is fair to everyone   Fireman and cops need shorter retirement as you can't run up sixt floors in a burning building dragging a hose at 62

[Diomedes]

Nor should you be a first responder in a tunnel at 62.  The deal that ends this is the one that gives the labor more than anyone thought they could get.  4% raises would be a huge shift in favor of people, as pathetic as that figure is.

Also, I'd like to say that, like the blackout and 9/11, people were generally very civil to each other.  I don't think you have to live in NY to appreciate the sense of citizenry it enjoys.  There's a kind of "we're all in this shteinhole together" ethic that pervades, and we all make it through in the end.  Most of us.  farg the others.

[fansince61]

Nor should you be a first responder in a tunnel at 62.  The deal that ends this is the one that gives the labor more than anyone thought they could get.  4% raises would be a huge shift in favor of people, as pathetic as that figure is.

Also, I'd like to say that, like the blackout and 9/11, people were generally very civil to each other.  I don't think you have to live in NY to appreciate the sense of citizenry it enjoys.  There's a kind of "we're all in this shteinhole together" ethic that pervades, and we all make it through in the end.  Most of us.  farg the others.

Well said

[thrillhouse]

Nor should you be a first responder in a tunnel at 62.  The deal that ends this is the one that gives the labor more than anyone thought they could get.  4% raises would be a huge shift in favor of people, as pathetic as that figure is.

Also, I'd like to say that, like the blackout and 9/11, people were generally very civil to each other.  I don't think you have to live in NY to appreciate the sense of citizenry it enjoys.  There's a kind of "we're all in this shteinhole together" ethic that pervades, and we all make it through in the end.  Most of us.  farg the others.

Well said

Yep.  I got out yesterday and went home for the holidays. 

I really have no sympathy for the TWU people striking.  They're uneducated people making 55k a year on average, like mentioned earlier, is more than the teachers of NY, and can retire with full pension at 55.  And like Bloomberg keeps saying, their strike is illegal.