The Taylor Law is not a good law. Like I said, restrictions on strikes by public employee unions make sense. But the Taylor Law outlaws them outright. It doesn't force the employers to hold to any timeline in negotiations, so they can stretch out negotiations as long as they want. It's unfairly skewed to the employer's side and should be reformed.
But if you really think the Taylor Law is a good law as it exists, what you're saying is that you don't believe that unionized workers should have any tools at their disposal to hold employers' feet to the fire in contract negotiations. And that would mean that you don't believe in organized labor. It's that simple.
Look, there is no way for the TWU to bring the MTA to the table. The MTA doesn't have to give them a contract. The MTA doesn't have to do dick. They can sit back, play games with the union, and try to force them into accepting an offer that is going to break the union. And if the union doesn't strike, that is exactly what is going to happen. The union will break.
When I've seen interviews with transit workers, most of them are wholeheartedly behind the strike. Others say, "I wish our leadership had stayed at the bargaining table a little longer." But they also say, "We elected them to fight for us, and they're doing what they need to do -- and we support them."
This is what organized labor is all about: putting your trust in your fellow workers to fight for all of us. Is it inconvenient for average New Yorkers? Sure. It's even more inconvenient for transit workers who are being docked 2 days' pay for each 1 day they're off the job.
They are sacrificing... for the idea that things SHOULDN'T get gradually worse and worse for each new generation of workers. Roger Toussaint said, "We will not give up our unborn." That is a noble principle, and I applaud the TWU for standing up for it.
I agree completely! The management should all be immediately replaced for giving the workers no choice but to strike!
What you really believe is that unions should not have the right to strike when their striikes could hurt the bottom line of their employers. The only citizens you are concerned about are shareholders and CEOs.
You, on the other hand, can go fuck yourself. How's that for smugness?
As an NYC resident, I support the strike but people need to be realistic about who is being impacted by it - the working class. Transit strikes are by their very nature designed to inflict pain on the middle class since they depend on it. The rich are inconvenienced, the working class hurt severly and some will not be able to pay their bills b/c of it.
Scott Shields gets it and acknowledges it. Why don't you?
You are the idiot (I dont mind returning the namecalling even if I won't initiate it in most cases) who made a mischaracterized what SensibleDemocrat was saying. And you just strike back like a rightwinger when someone points that out.
By rating and responding to people based on personal spite on several occasions, you are being more of a troll than any right winger who comes by here. Instead of the discussion being given the paramount importance, you seem to put a big deal of effort into extending personal conflicts - the hallmark of a troll. I never interrupt your discussions with my personal rants because if I see something I like in your diaries, then I will contribute to the diary in a positive way or keep quiet. What a sorry excuse for a human being you are. I cringe when I think that an idiot like you is on our side. It's time you got a life, or maybe even a job(considering you spend more time than a few of us combined on these blogs, I can't see how you can put an honest day's work in real life).
When you're dealing with a public-private partnership like the MTA, though, things get more complicated. The union doesn't have the same kind of direct political leverage over them as they would over a real public employer, and yet they're expected to abide by a law that completely undercuts members' leverage. The MTA has chosen to bargain in bad faith like any other corporate employer. The union has every right to play just as hard, in my opinion, whether the courts and statutes recognize it or not.
