Glad the NYC transit strike is over

[SamRoc]

My kids can now go back to school at a normal hour. But the strike was really bad for college students. City colleges pushed up the finals til January, this is so unfair to the students who were ready for finals and now have to wait 2-3 more weeks to take them (My Son is a a Junior.) Everything is fresh in their minds and this extra time is not a good thing, they dont need this time to study more, this might actually hurt their grades as they aren't going to be in class or labs for weeks. This strike really effected everyone in a negative way.

 

[bicker]

Except, it apparently had its intended result: The pensions for the transit workers now appear to be safe.

 

[Lisa F]

It could be argued whether they were ever actually really in danger. New hires having to contribute 6% per year for 10 years and then 2% per year for the following 15 and retiring at 55 with full pension/benefits is hardly a raw deal.

 

[bicker]

However, it was a different deal than the one they've been promised now.

 

[Lisa F]

Excuse me if I'm having a hard time feeling anything but disgust at the greed and utter selfishness that has been expressed over the last several days by the twu. There are a lot of things that I "desire" but that doesn't make it right to go out there and get it by any means possible, including on the backs of other people.

 

[bicker]

I can understand your frustration, and the frustration of anyone who doesn't have a union to effect collective bargaining, including calling for a strike, on their behalf. Remember, however, that unions were created because much of the doings of society were done "on the backs" of the kind of people who are in unions today. Unionization leveled the playing field.

I think unions should lose all special protections they have today, not because workers don't need leverage against employers, but because none of the rest of us have any special protections, so why should they?

However, they have those protections right now, and it would be irresponsible for them not to use them.

 

[mickman1962]

There is something horribly wrong when the person who sells tokens for the subway makes more than a NYC fireman or cop and are still not happy about how much they make. I said it before with the UAW-GM layoffs. These people would be in for a rude awakening if they had to find a job with their skills (or lack of) and how they would be lucky to be making $9/hr and have to pay for benefits. I probably shouldn't have wasted my 4 years in college as their GED seems to be just as valuable as my diploma.

 

[airhead]

Is that what they make an hour?

 

[bicker]

Don't forget to ask how many hours they work each week.

 

[FergieTCat]

Let's see. I don't have a pension, and annually contribute about 18% of my salary to my 401K to make sure I 'll have ANY money when I retire.

An average Transit Worker makes about $50,000/year. And they probably have way better benefits than I do. (I don't get dental or vision).

So tell me again how the poor TWU 100 is getting the shaft?