The Transit Workers Union are Terrorists in disguise

I can’t believe that the savages at the TWU shut down the entire city.  I had to reschedule a job interview for tomorrow because the whole city was almost like in “mad Max” mode.  I was supposed to get a ride down by the 59th Street Bridge, then walk across it and get to where my interview was to be. (53rd and 5th Ave.) Well I didn’t bother trying since I was too tired to go (I was up until 3am waiting for this damn announcement), and I really didn’t want to try walking when I saw video of all the checkpoints.  I will be going tomorrow and I may write about the whole trip tomorrow.

The whole ordeal with this labor negotiation has gotten odder and odder each day.  First, the Union didn’t have the balls to pull the trigger and go out last Friday, then they just left the negotiations yesterday, even though the deal presented wasn’t one that they should have gotten pissed about.  Today, the court found the union in criminal contempt by having the illegal strike (under the Taylor law, city employees can’t go out on strike), and they have to pay a million dollars each day they are out.  On top of it, the MTA called for an impasse, and the next step is a mediator coming in to help sort this out.  On top of it, the Higher-ups at this union, the parent organization, is pissed to no end the local leaders of the union had this strike.  The international union wanted the local to continue negotiations and continue working.  

This pissing contest is really sad.  I can see that both sides have valid points.  The MTA wants the workers to pay more into the pension and medical coverage, something EVERYONE does now.  They also have some other requests, which aren’t too much of a big deal, but the union is really spoiled in all their benefits that they have.  On the other hand, the MTA has had such shady bookkeeping; it makes it almost impossible to know if they are in debt or rich.  They allegedly have a billion dollars surplus, but NONE of it goes to the workers.  They decide to take the money and piss it away on rubes and tourists with discounted Metrocards.  Also the MTA are real pricks when it comes to their rules (before my dad died, he told me some of the new rules and he really hated some of them).  There’s a lot more into all this, but I really don’t care, all I care is that I have to now for over a couple hours hike to a place where it would take me no more than 30 minutes to get to via train.

And to think, those savages called terrorists are probably pissed that Americans crippled a major city and not them,