Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Why We Must Support Our Brothers and Sisters in the TWU
Mayor Moneybags and Governor Pataki want to break the transit workers union.
Channel 7 WABC just reported that Governor Pataki wants to see the union "punched" for going on strike this morning.
Mayor Moneybags said a few days ago that he thought the offer the MTA made to the union was "porbably a good offer".
The offer included radical changes to pension and health care plus a 9% raise over three years.
Currently inflation in New York City is running at 5%.
The "raise" wouldn't even cover inflation increases per year.
The MTA claims poverty, saying they can only afford 3% raises as long as they get the union to concede pension and health care benefits changes.
But remember that just last year the MTA was prepared to sell off it's West Side railyards for peanuts to the New York Jets until Cablevision embarrassed them with a much bigger offer that exposed the sweetheart deal between Bloomberg and the Jets owner.
Remember too that the MTA was planning on spending $1 to $2 billion dollars to expand the 7 train six blocks, from 42 Street and 7th Avenue to the Javits Convention Center.
Six blocks! For $1 to $2 billion dollars!
Finally, remember that the MTA has been caught using two sets of financial "books": one set of numbers is used when negotiating with the the TWU or when asking for rates hikes from commuters, another set of books used when handing out bonuses to MTA executives or doing deals with the New York Jets.
Yet the MTA claims it doesn't have any money for its workers.
Never mind that many of the TWU members work in horrendous conditions in the subway. Between the dirt, the rats, the roaches, the noise, the heat, the bad smells, the dirty, stale air, the asbestos, lead, the crime, and the millions of riders who take the subway each day, TWU workers are truly doing a good job in pretty terrible conditions.
Thnk about it. How would you like to work in an environment that is inundated with rats, roaches, noise, heat, bad smells, dirty, stale air, asbestos, lead, and crime and be told by your bosses that you only deserve a 3% raise that doesn't even cover inflation increases, but you must concede pension and health care benefits changes in return?
Wouldn't make you feel to good about yourself or your job, would it?
But the powers that be in New York City and New York State don't care about TWU members.
The reality is, neither Mayor Moneybags nor Governor Pataki care about the TWU members or working class and middle class Americans in general.
This battle with the TWU is just another episode in the class war against working and middle class Americans so that the investment class can increase their profit margins and GOP-sponsored tax breaks.
Pataki wants to see the union "punched" so that the State and the City can break other unions, including the the police, fire, and teachers unions, in the future.
This is why working class and middle class Americans must support the TWU in its battle with the MTA, the governor, and the mayor.
I don't know how this strike is going to play out or how it's going to end. I suspect Bloomberg and Pataki are going to hold to a hard line until they start hearing from small and large business leaders around the city about how much money is being lost. I don't know if that will be enough to get the MTA to blink or if Bloomberg and Pataki will try to break the union the way Reagan broke the air traffic controllers union.
I do know that the outcome of this strike will affect me as a UFT member.
I also know that if the TWU is broken by the mayor and governor, my own union will be broken next.
This is why I must support the TWU in their strike and why all union members and working class and middle class Americans should support the TWU over the entreched power elite.
Channel 7 WABC just reported that Governor Pataki wants to see the union "punched" for going on strike this morning.
Mayor Moneybags said a few days ago that he thought the offer the MTA made to the union was "porbably a good offer".
The offer included radical changes to pension and health care plus a 9% raise over three years.
Currently inflation in New York City is running at 5%.
The "raise" wouldn't even cover inflation increases per year.
The MTA claims poverty, saying they can only afford 3% raises as long as they get the union to concede pension and health care benefits changes.
But remember that just last year the MTA was prepared to sell off it's West Side railyards for peanuts to the New York Jets until Cablevision embarrassed them with a much bigger offer that exposed the sweetheart deal between Bloomberg and the Jets owner.
Remember too that the MTA was planning on spending $1 to $2 billion dollars to expand the 7 train six blocks, from 42 Street and 7th Avenue to the Javits Convention Center.
Six blocks! For $1 to $2 billion dollars!
Finally, remember that the MTA has been caught using two sets of financial "books": one set of numbers is used when negotiating with the the TWU or when asking for rates hikes from commuters, another set of books used when handing out bonuses to MTA executives or doing deals with the New York Jets.
Yet the MTA claims it doesn't have any money for its workers.
Never mind that many of the TWU members work in horrendous conditions in the subway. Between the dirt, the rats, the roaches, the noise, the heat, the bad smells, the dirty, stale air, the asbestos, lead, the crime, and the millions of riders who take the subway each day, TWU workers are truly doing a good job in pretty terrible conditions.
Thnk about it. How would you like to work in an environment that is inundated with rats, roaches, noise, heat, bad smells, dirty, stale air, asbestos, lead, and crime and be told by your bosses that you only deserve a 3% raise that doesn't even cover inflation increases, but you must concede pension and health care benefits changes in return?
Wouldn't make you feel to good about yourself or your job, would it?
But the powers that be in New York City and New York State don't care about TWU members.
The reality is, neither Mayor Moneybags nor Governor Pataki care about the TWU members or working class and middle class Americans in general.
This battle with the TWU is just another episode in the class war against working and middle class Americans so that the investment class can increase their profit margins and GOP-sponsored tax breaks.
Pataki wants to see the union "punched" so that the State and the City can break other unions, including the the police, fire, and teachers unions, in the future.
This is why working class and middle class Americans must support the TWU in its battle with the MTA, the governor, and the mayor.
I don't know how this strike is going to play out or how it's going to end. I suspect Bloomberg and Pataki are going to hold to a hard line until they start hearing from small and large business leaders around the city about how much money is being lost. I don't know if that will be enough to get the MTA to blink or if Bloomberg and Pataki will try to break the union the way Reagan broke the air traffic controllers union.
I do know that the outcome of this strike will affect me as a UFT member.
I also know that if the TWU is broken by the mayor and governor, my own union will be broken next.
This is why I must support the TWU in their strike and why all union members and working class and middle class Americans should support the TWU over the entreched power elite.
Comments:
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Those poor conditions that you talk about are the same ones that we all commute in, so, I spend a couple hours in them every day and pay for the privalege to boot! Maybe if the TWU wants sympathy it should have had some sympathy for its customes -- who are ultimately the ones who pay them -- and delayed the strike until after Christmas.
Would a couple weeks without a contract so people could shop for the holidays and visit friends have hurt so much?
Also, inflation in NYC is running at less than 4 percent and falling (see BLS stats.
I won't even mention that the workers earn $40,000-$70,000 per year and can retire at half pay at age 55.
Would a couple weeks without a contract so people could shop for the holidays and visit friends have hurt so much?
Also, inflation in NYC is running at less than 4 percent and falling (see BLS stats.
I won't even mention that the workers earn $40,000-$70,000 per year and can retire at half pay at age 55.
# posted by 
: 8:18 AM
: 8:18 AM
I support the TWU in full and it is so funny how all people think is about themselves,how dare you talk about christmas and the holidays when people have to work in these poor conditions.This strike is not just for them its for the generation to follow ,your kids or grandkids might follow,its funny when all people think about is material things,why can you say you have to get to the salvation army to donate christmas present,clothes then your comment would have sound better.
# posted by : 3:53 PM
: 3:53 PM
Inflation's not up?
My rent is going up 3.6% next month.
My Metro card is up 21% over the past three years.
My weekly grocery bill is $20-30 bucks more.
My allergy medicine went up 200%.
My medical co-pays are up 50%.
Sorry, but the stats politicians use to prove inflation isn't high and everything's great with the economy just don't survive the smell test - which is how much money do you have left at the end of the month.
I have less money at the end of each month now and I am working longer hours.
If inflation's not up, where the fuck is my money going?
And I know lots of people around this city who ask themselves the same question at the end of each month:
Where's my fucking money going?
My rent is going up 3.6% next month.
My Metro card is up 21% over the past three years.
My weekly grocery bill is $20-30 bucks more.
My allergy medicine went up 200%.
My medical co-pays are up 50%.
Sorry, but the stats politicians use to prove inflation isn't high and everything's great with the economy just don't survive the smell test - which is how much money do you have left at the end of the month.
I have less money at the end of each month now and I am working longer hours.
If inflation's not up, where the fuck is my money going?
And I know lots of people around this city who ask themselves the same question at the end of each month:
Where's my fucking money going?
I pray to God that all these workes get fiered, and fined so much that it takes them 100 lifetimes to pay back.
# posted by : 4:42 PM
: 4:42 PM
You took the words right out of my mouth. I logged onto this site to post a blog similar to yours. I don't need to do this but I do want to support TWU because I too am worried about the powers that be breaking our unions. What is the UFT doing to support the TWU? Now more than ever we need working and middle class people to look past their selfish, superficial needs and look to the future. In many other countries there are only two social classes, poor and rich. This is what Bloomberg, Pataki, the MTA and all the powers that be are actively seeking. A New York with the poor that can serve them, the rich.
# posted by : 4:50 PM
: 4:50 PM
Anonymous, You are really need to educate yourself. Bloomberg counts on people like you to make his plan work. Ignorance is not bliss.
# posted by : 4:53 PM
: 4:53 PM
J.G. - you couldn't be more right.
This is about the squeezing of the working and middle classes and the reestablishment of the feudal state - only this time workers keep the lords happy by working long hours for shit wages, spending themselves into debt on consumption, and carrying more and more of the costs of health care and retirement on their own.
Meanwhile, the Bloombergs get tax breaks, soaring stocks, and plenty of Christmas bonuses along with their Christmas cheer.
This is about the squeezing of the working and middle classes and the reestablishment of the feudal state - only this time workers keep the lords happy by working long hours for shit wages, spending themselves into debt on consumption, and carrying more and more of the costs of health care and retirement on their own.
Meanwhile, the Bloombergs get tax breaks, soaring stocks, and plenty of Christmas bonuses along with their Christmas cheer.
If working for the MTA is such a terrible thing, then perhaps our TWU brothers and sister should find a new job.
# posted by : 8:07 PM
: 8:07 PM
anonymous,
We Americans have the right to negotiate for a fair, just work contract.
The choice is not necessarily between "take what the bosses give you" or "find another job".
I'm sure the powers that be would like that to be the choice, but employees have other tools at their disposal in order to receive afair wages, benefits, and work conditions.
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We Americans have the right to negotiate for a fair, just work contract.
The choice is not necessarily between "take what the bosses give you" or "find another job".
I'm sure the powers that be would like that to be the choice, but employees have other tools at their disposal in order to receive afair wages, benefits, and work conditions.
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