tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387588.post113476755221333699..comments2023-10-18T03:53:59.377-04:00Comments on The Last Debate: Strike the StrikeAndyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13524483460829802534noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387588.post-1135170057067113262005-12-21T08:00:00.000-05:002005-12-21T08:00:00.000-05:00Rob,I am absolutely livid at your response. I, li...Rob,<BR/>I am absolutely livid at your response. I, like Andy, make less money per year than many of the transit workers, and I have NO benefits. There are millions of people in this country who do not have and cannot afford health insurance (I'm among them, despite a chronic and dangerous health condition), and the minuscule sum that MTA workers are being asked to contribute toward theirs is a gift many of us would kill for. My loathing of the MTA is well- and widely noted, but try finding the kind of salary/benefits package TWU members receive elsewhere in the private sector. I'm not saying the working people of America don't deserve more than they're getting (many of us do), but that the transit workers' strike should deprive me and many others of our income, which is stretched to cover areas the transit workers don't have to cover (like health care and considerations for retirement -- I will likely NEVER be able to retire) is absolutely unconscionable. Roger Toussaint has rejected all of the MTA's frankly more than fair offers without even serious consideration, and he and his cronies have committed an act of terrorism against the residents of the City of New York with an equal lack of consideration for the potential repercussions on all of our lives. Yes, I just called him and the TWU terrorists, and terrorists must be punished, so I will support every sanction and applaud every punitive measure levied against him and his organization with the utmost fervor. And I'm proud of it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387588.post-1135102527466348772005-12-20T13:15:00.000-05:002005-12-20T13:15:00.000-05:00Rob, I have to respectfully disagree. The MTA are...Rob, I have to respectfully disagree. The MTA are bastards, to be sure, and the employees have legitimate concerns and the right to negotiate. However, nothing about their situation justifies to me the incredible hardship that they are foisting on their customers who depend on them and the millions and millions of dollars this pageant is costing us.Andyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13524483460829802534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387588.post-1135100205612620782005-12-20T12:36:00.000-05:002005-12-20T12:36:00.000-05:00Let's remember one important fact:The MTA is awash...Let's remember one important fact:<BR/>The MTA is awash (awash) in cash.<BR/><BR/>For an unbiased analysis of the MTA's past fiscal trasngressions:<BR/>http://www.osc.state.ny.us/press/<BR/>releases/apr03/042303.htm<BR/>(connect the URL's 2 lines)<BR/>"MTA Hid a *Half Billion Dollars*..."<BR/><BR/>You all should be ashamed for not standing should-to-shoulder with these hard workers -- a job many of us could at best minimally handle physically and/or psychologically for more than a week, never mind years.<BR/><BR/>You need to walk.<BR/>With each step connect the dots of your dependency upon their efforts.<BR/><BR/>Meanwhile...<BR/>The MTA management is *awash* in cash -- and their workers are certainly not.<BR/><BR/>(And America's working-class wonders why it's being financially raped by the upper 2% wealthy? Solidarity and empathy ain't exactly a 21st Century American ethos, for sure.)<BR/><BR/>rob@egoz.orgAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387588.post-1134921008899245602005-12-18T10:50:00.000-05:002005-12-18T10:50:00.000-05:00I have no sympathy for the MTA employees. The cur...I have no sympathy for the MTA employees. The current offer is three 3% annual raises, and I heard someone comment on it being ridiculously low. I beg your pardon? That's a perfectly fair offer. Plus, no impact on the current employees' ability to retire at 55? Cry me a river!<BR/><BR/>Besides, not only is a strike illegal, but the law gives these employees assistance that other unions don't have, like forcing the MTA to binding arbitration if they think they're being treated unfairly. This strike threat is just a selfish act, and I have no sympathy for them at all. Makes me feel like the response to a strike should be hiring replacements as fast as they can and using them to replace the <I>most senior</I> workers on strike. Maybe that would get the message across.Jesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11542750642334339031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387588.post-1134831404507709132005-12-17T09:56:00.000-05:002005-12-17T09:56:00.000-05:00It's going to be a bitch if we can't get around. ...It's going to be a bitch if we can't get around. I'm not as screwed as most (NJT, baby), but the shifting deadline is surely frustrating. Maybe I'll just stay up here in Newport until it's all over.SailRacerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07192004101264677756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8387588.post-1134783128570336422005-12-16T20:32:00.000-05:002005-12-16T20:32:00.000-05:00Amen to that.Amen to that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com