Good, charge more for transit, put the gov't in control, clean that fucking place up.

[Edited on December 20, 2005 at 5:46 PM. Reason : and 2]

12/20/2005 5:45:56 PM

Quote :

"honestly i hate unions... if you don't like the job, quit. sure, i think it is important for workers to be treated with respect and paid fairly. but every interaction i have had with them just shows me that A. they protect the lazy and don't reward those who work hard (flat hourly pay rates) B. their workers are overpaid (i.e. people working in my refinery with NO degree and little skill STARTING at $55k) C. they act like a bunch of mobsters (oh wait, half of them are run by mobsters) threatening and leaning on companies for unreasonable and unjustified benefits and D. their strikes cost their companies and people in general $$$ (think if refinery workers went on strike... i'm sure you all would love $5/gal gasoline)"

you work for an oil company and you're calling out "mobsters" ?


seriously

12/20/2005 5:56:11 PM

aha touche

12/20/2005 5:57:21 PM

that would be like me working for a Pharma company, calling out drug dealers

12/20/2005 6:00:25 PM

Quote :

"Good, charge more for transit, put the gov't in control, clean that fucking place up."

The NY (state, I believe) government runs the MTA. It's bureaucracy vs. organized labor. Bloomberg and Pataki want the strike to bust the fucking union. Guess who loses. Urrbody.

12/20/2005 7:41:58 PM

can i just point out, regardless of who's right in this strike, that $35k - 55k in new york city is HARDLY overpaid. average teacher salary is $55,181 in ny state, if that's any indication for you of how much cost of living is there.

in fact, according to this handy dandy "cost of living calculator"
http://www.homefair.com/homefair/calc/salcalc.html

if you make $50,000 in Raleigh, NC, you'd have to make 119,744 in Manhattan

[Edited on December 20, 2005 at 8:13 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on December 20, 2005 at 8:14 PM. Reason : .]

12/20/2005 8:10:40 PM

^that is if you choose the option for owning in manhattan

If you choose rent it is about 60k in manhattan, and if you choose own for one of the other boroughs it is about 60k



[Edited on December 20, 2005 at 9:12 PM. Reason : ]

12/20/2005 9:06:23 PM

rent on a shithole loft (1 room apartment) in manhattan is about $1500 a month

12/20/2005 9:39:28 PM

I just found a ride to work tomorrow!!

-ZiP!-

[Edited on December 20, 2005 at 10:21 PM. Reason : ]

12/20/2005 10:16:16 PM

How much weight are New Yorkers gonig to lose by the end of this?

12/21/2005 9:30:11 AM

^Haha

Quote :

"just saw on the news that a judge just imposed a ONE MILLION dollar a day fine against the union."

Quote :

"the article also said the union has about 3.6 million in assets."

3.6 million in assets
2.6 million in assets
1.6 million in assets
0.6 million in assets
...


[Edited on December 21, 2005 at 10:55 AM. Reason : -]

12/21/2005 10:48:41 AM

^ beat me to it

i found that pretty amusing

12/21/2005 11:04:15 AM

they will probably try to negotiate the fines away before returning to work because if they are already fined 2 million the union is in deep shit.

12/21/2005 11:30:15 AM

Quote :

"people working in my refinery with NO degree and little skill STARTING at $55k"

looks like i'll have to start working in a refinery for a while.

[Edited on December 21, 2005 at 3:08 PM. Reason : or the loading dock in CA]

12/21/2005 3:08:39 PM

^ it's dangerous and sucks though, that's one of the reasons the pay is so high

12/21/2005 3:35:30 PM

fire 'em all and give the jobs to some mexicans

12/21/2005 3:47:35 PM

^^not nearly as much as you think it might... 1/2 of then sit all day in front of control boards. actually our osha rate is lower than most industrial jobs.

12/21/2005 3:50:32 PM

the strike is God's way of saying "slow the fuck down, NYC".

its funny when pampered college kids try to talk about how they know what its like to work one of these jobs.

[Edited on December 21, 2005 at 4:09 PM. Reason : .]

12/21/2005 4:07:08 PM

Quote :

"that would be like me working for a Pharma company, calling out drug dealers "

Last time I checked, the local drug dealer down the street didn't pay millions of dollars to companies like mine to get their crack rock put through animal testing, then 4 phases of in-human testing.

</thread diversion over>

Unions were a necessary evil back in the days of skilled manufacturing positions, where the quality of the machinist making your parts equaled the quality of the car rolling off the assembly line.

Back when there was no such thing as monster.com or online education.

If your pre-reqs allow it, and if they still offer it, take HI471 (I think) - History of Labor Unions since 1900. Understanding the past history of unions gives you a glimpse into their present-day shenanigans. Believe it or not, it could be argued that they are more benign but more demanding at the same time.

12/21/2005 9:33:02 PM

yea they arent shit compared to even 20 years ago.

And frankly I am, in this instance at least, completely with the union on this.

Most of these people do not have the choice to uproot and leave nyc. It's easy for unattached, fairly debt free students to make a comment like that, but when you are middle aged with a family and considerable debts and responsibilities, there is no option to just leave.

And they aren't even striking over the actual pay so much. They've been underpaid for a long time and will continue to be. They are striking because the city is trying to rape their future pension plans. Increasing pay deductions for pensions from 2% to 6%, increasing pension age from 55 to 62, instituting a 1% deduction for health care coverage, while retaining the 2-3% yearly wage increase. So basically they would LOSE a LOT of money by accepting the new terms. Seeing as they are already underpaid, this is a fucking slap in the face.

Not to mention that MTA was caught with over a MILLION DOLLAR surplus a few years ago, which they have yet to explain. This is hardly a case of greedy union tyrants.

12/21/2005 10:41:03 PM

Quote :

"the strike is God's way of saying "slow the **** down, NYC"."

I thought a hurricane, tidal wave, or other natural disaster was God's way of saying "Slow down".

A strike is pretty much man's way of saying "gimmie gimmie".

12/22/2005 10:25:34 AM

Quote :

"And they aren't even striking over the actual pay so much. They've been underpaid for a long time and will continue to be. They are striking because the city is trying to rape their future pension plans. Increasing pay deductions for pensions from 2% to 6%, increasing pension age from 55 to 62, instituting a 1% deduction for health care coverage, while retaining the 2-3% yearly wage increase. So basically they would LOSE a LOT of money by accepting the new terms. Seeing as they are already underpaid, this is a fucking slap in the face."

bwwwahahahahah

umm the MTA agreed that only NEW employees would be moved to age 62 requiremnet

Why shouldn't they pay money into their pension plan???? most other people who still have a pension plan do.

GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK!!! awwwww the MTA wants them to pay 1 fucking % of their healthcare......I pay 148/month for my health insurance...I wish it was free

12/22/2005 10:53:44 AM

Quote :

"MILLION DOLLAR surplus a few years ago"

It was a billion dollars. And it was this year. And it was from "unforseeable land divestments," I believe. You can't keep divesting to keep up with the 28% raise that Toussaint was asking for over the next three years.

12/22/2005 11:00:37 AM

I'd have to go with MTA mostly. Using that cost of living calculator for Raleigh vs Manhattan, with my husband's salary, the transit workers make almost twice what we'd be converted to, and we live just fine. We may not have a lot of extra money, and two dogs instead of kids, but even with kids, at 50k a small family would be fine. It would cost even less if they were in another part of NYC. So I really don't have a whole lot of sympathy for the striking employees. Not to mention that our health insurance is taken out of my husband's paycheck at around 15% of his monthly income. And it is a job that doesn't require a college degree, but you're more likely to get the job if you do have one. So if one spouse works for the transit and the other works elsewhere, like I will be once I'm out of school, there's no way they can be living that terribly.

12/22/2005 11:27:59 AM

Quote :

"bwwwahahahahah umm the MTA agreed that only NEW employees would be moved to age 62 requiremnet Why shouldn't they pay money into their pension plan???? most other people who still have a pension plan do. GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK!!! awwwww the MTA wants them to pay 1 fucking % of their healthcare......I pay 148/month for my health insurance...I wish it was free"

So they should SELL OUT their future coworkers? What the FUCK DO YOU THINK A LABOR UNION IS FOR?

THEY DO PAY INTO THEIR PENSION PLAN. Why should THEY take ANOTHER cut into their pay, which already isn't being kept up with inflation.

And again why the fuck should they take a paycut to keep healthcare?

Your 148 bucks a month is completely fucking abitrary.

Like I said, all you fruitcakes have no concept of the difference between being a single young male and being an older adult with a family.

^If you are making 50k a year, you'd be in a pretty shitty area in NYC.

12/22/2005 12:53:54 PM

^ someone with common sense

12/22/2005 3:26:10 PM

strike's over! at least for now

http://www.wnbc.com/traffic/5532275/detail.html

12/22/2005 8:06:45 PM

buses should start up tonight. i haven't seen any in the city yet.

subway is supposed to be up and running in the morning. thankfully i walk to work everyday anyway.

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/NY1ToGo/Story/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=55821

12/22/2005 9:19:08 PM

i just got back from NYC. we went Monday night .. the strike started (i guess late monday night or tuesday morning) & then when i was sitting in the airport waiting to board to come home today, they announced that it was over!! Yesterday, we walked all the way from 45th & Madison to Ground Zero, & then to Battery Park & to the Brooklyn Bridge but I didn't mind b/c we got to see a lot of stuff along the way but on the way back we just got a cab since we were tired & it cost $60 for 5 people. Some lady told us it would have normally been like $8 since it is only like 3 & 1/2 miles from the Brooklyn Bridge to 45th & Madison. That sorta sucked.

12/22/2005 11:41:26 PM

^^^Hopefully they'll be able to work out a decent contract.

12/23/2005 1:23:12 AM

the other day during lunch i saw some guys in santa costumes near bryant park with signs that read "all I want for christmas is a transit system" haha, they had a point, its great that its all back up and running

-ZiP!-

12/24/2005 7:27:42 PM

a bar near my place had a sign that read:

"You know who's not on strike? Liquor!"

12/24/2005 8:02:34 PM