Unforgivable

The TWU is striking because they’re greedy. Either that, or their perception of reality is severely compromised.

They are striking because they want a piece of the MTA’s billion dollar surplus. You know what? If anybody deserves that surplus, it’s us, the riders. Better to roll back the fares (instead of a limited holiday bonus) to $1.50 until the surplus runs out. When it bounces back to $2.00 we’ll appreciate the good fortune we had and would be glad that it lasted as long as it did. Better to do that than to give it to the MTA workers who want unsustainable wage increases and benefits while resisting any efforts at streamlining the operations of the MTA. If the MTA gave the TWU their 6% raise for the next three years, they’ll be looking for 9% for the following three years when bargaining time rolls around again.  And those kinds of numbers aren’t economical for the MTA because they’re unsustainable.
As for their benefits, they pay copays and premiums smaller than the ones in my plan, my parent’s plan, and all my friend’s plans. And it’s not even their benefits that were in danger during negotiations – nothing will change in their benefits plans. No, part of the reason they are striking is to protest the cost of benefits for new employees – employees that do not currently exist! If they get their heads out of their greedy little holes for one second, they might see that healthcare costs have been increasing for everybody! They’re not being singled out and disrespected – every citizen in the United States of America is paying the price for this wreck of a healthcare system that we have.

I say fire’em.  Every one.  If I committed a crime at my job, I would be fired.  And that’s what they’re doing — committing a crime.  And this isn’t some victimless crime either – everyone in New York is a victim of a damaged holiday season.

And get those conductorless trains running.  New York City can’t afford to be taken hostage like this again.