Steerike!

The NYC transit strike of 2005 has officially ended. At just 3 days, it was very poorly timed - too long to just be an exciting adventure, yet too short to be a disaster. Basically, it was a nuisance. While I wasn't very happy about having to pay for taxis to get to work, I had no trouble finding them in the morning. As for getting home, walking 2 miles every evening is good exercise which I could probably use. If it weren't so cold outside, I'd probably enjoy it. I'll sometimes walk home during the spring or summer when the weather is nice - it's a great way to decompress after work.

The big losers in this strike, it seems to me, were the union rank and file. They elected a militant leader who approached negotiations with outrageous demands a rational person knew wouldn't ever be accepted by the MTA. I understand that the union got a lousy contract last time, with a measly 1% per year raise, but that doesn't mean that the next time around you should expect 8% per year. Face it - you screwed up last time. You lost. The MTA won. This time, definitely try to do better, but don't expect the MTA to compensate you this time for your bad negotiations last time. Life doesn't work that way. And then, when a good offer is placed on the table, union leadership walked away from the table over pension contributions from future employees. This is what the union rank and file was losing pay over - pension contributions from workers who haven't even been hired yet. The TWU local 100 was fined $1 million per day, and essentially was bankrupted, because Roger Toussaint held out over an issue that doesn't affect a single current member of the union. I sincerely hope that the union membership finds itself some new leadership soon - it's obvious the powers that be in the city of New York will not be forgiving if the union strikes again.