800-900 MTA Strikers Cross Picket Line....

[Craig]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 8:54am

Latest from 7Online.com

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=traffic&id=3745787

"Roger Toussaint spent the first night of the strike on a picket line in Hamilton Heights but large numbers of union members are defecting. Between 800 and 900 have crossed the picket line. They're now waiting for the MTA to assign them some work. "

"If we see more workers possibly heading across the picket line in defiance of the strike orders, we could see some of the Transit Authority begin some limited service on express trains like the A and the F, also the 2 and the 4.

So far there are no negotiations scheduled today. "

Updated On: 12/21/05 at 08:54 AM

[Mamie]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 9:04am

This supports other stories I've read about dissention re the strike. Sounds like it's already starting to break down. You just knew that all those workers couldn't have been behind the way they were doing this.

[Craig]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 9:08am

Well, I believe what's been being reported regarding the offer on the table. I can't say I am on the up and up on all the "points" of contention - but the MTA seems to have put a fair and reasonable enough offer out there that I am sure many union workers are ready to accept. I also think that, just like the rest of us, not having a paycheck during this time of year - and possibly losing 2x their wages per strike day is causing dissention as well.

[zzannahk]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 9:12am

I wish I could have a job that guarantees raises too! Must be nice. Dreaming of at least a holiday bonus. last year it was $50 - taxes.

[Bluemoon]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 9:17am

This does not bode well for the local leadership come election time.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 9:28am

This is the one time I've been glad I'm commuting from Yonkers - if I was still in Manhattan, I don't know how I'd get to work!

[Broadwayboobs]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 9:30am

What's wrong Rath..the broom broken?

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 9:35am

It won't cross the picket line.

[Broadwayboobs]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 9:39am

That's what you get for buying a Union broom !!!

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 9:42am

YOU bought it! It was my Christmas gift last year, remember??

[RobbO]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 9:44am

zzannahk, if you want a job that will guarantee you raises you could also become a teacher. now THEY have it made!

[Mamie]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 9:49am

THEY have it made? A TEACHER?!!! Are you completely insane?

(on that ridiculous note, I have to go to work. I'll take our working subway to get there...)

[bdwaygirl]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 10:06am

Oh RobbO, my goddaughter would like to have a talk with you.

[RobbO]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 10:08am

let me just say that i would never want to be a teacher since they have the hardest job in the world and all my respect but they are also guaranteed raises. at least in nj, they have it pretty sweet.

[Bluemoon]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 10:10am

Robb- most teachers I know (including my husband and myself) would love to have the deal the MTA strikers are turning down (well, their leaders are turning down). Most teachers make far less, pay far more for benefits and routinely bring home several hours of paperwork each night. And those "summer breaks"? Everyone I teach with teaches summer school or gets seasonal employment to help make up for the income deficit.

That said, no MTA employee gets to experience the joy of reaching young minds and opening new worlds for them. Priceless.

[SkierRob02]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 10:44am

Please...Income deficit, in NJ? You're nuts. My sister just started teaching 2 years now. She's making 42,000 for 9.5 months of work. I hardly see that as an income deficit. Also, the teachers also have the option for "summer savings". This money is put aside each pay and is payable over the months they do not work. Come on. Teachers do have big responsibilities, but they are fairly compensated for it.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 10:49am

You can't use NJ teachers as an example. NJ teachers are one of the, if not THE, best paid teachers in America. (NJ also has the highest grad rate, probably not a coincidence.) Teachers in many other states start out making 19k. Nationwide, teachers are the most underpaid profession. Certainly not worth the money once you add the headache of "No Child Left Behind."

Updated On: 12/21/05 at 10:49 AM

[zzannahk]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 10:59am

my aunt who just recent retired from teaching kindergarten in upstate NY was making $80,000 a year!!!

i know locally most start mid $30,000s

wow too bad i graduated on saturday with a degree in english and no job prospects ever
atleast i minored in communications, so i can write a press release!

[Bluemoon]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 11:03am

Skier - Is your sister trying to raise a family on that salary? Once you subtract taxes, FICA, retirement, union dies (if you are union), medical insurance, etc. you're down to @ 35,000. I don't know about New Jersey, but that doesn't stretch too far here in Maryland. Our county has a "moderate income housing program". County officials designed the program to enable "teachers, police, fireworkers and the like" to purchase small homes at discounted prices. So I guess we are one of three important professions which are "moderatly" paid, relative to our wortth. Most teachers don't get to your sister's salary level until they've been teaching a good long while.

We know this going into the profession. No one hopes to be affluent standing in front of a blackboard. But, yeah.....income deficit.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 3:10pm

I spent most of the day yesterday looking at a few documents and comparing them (mostly budgets). Without going into a lot of detail, the TWU isn't asking for anything that is unreasonable. For example, for the MTA to keep things like the cheap $1 rides every year, but not pay the 7% raise is ridiculous. Also know that the MTA has a history of lowballing numbers, so the notion of a deficit in a few years is (if history proves to repeat itself) hogwash.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 3:18pm

What are you trying to say, touchme? And how long was your commute to and from work yesterday? Today? Tomorrow?

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 3:26pm

My commute was an hour and a half each way -- i stayed home today and won't get paid. So, I'm pissed, too. I'm just trying to not let the mayor and governor and the media that has tended to skew it agaiinst the TWU to affect my judgement.

I just know a lot of people are blaming the TWU (and they don't get that the MTA has some big republican dollars backing it -- note who is speaking out for the MTA versus who speaks for the TWU).

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 3:32pm

Yeah, but this time, who's the one ****ing the poor with an illegal action in these temperatures, at this time of year?

I have NO sympathy for TWU and I am a proud member of TWO unions.

[robbiej]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 4:40pm

What business model is anyone looking at in which a 7 percent raise is truly reasonable? Business standard right now is between 3 and 4%. That's what I get...even when my company pulled in a billion dollar profit last year, no one received more than a 4% raise (most received between 3 and 3 1/2%). And we have a very small pension plan, but a 401(k) to which we can contribute anywhere from 2% to 6% of our salaries. And, in the end, we'd still have to work till 65 before retirement and I highly doubt that my 401(k) will end up being half my salary for the rest of my life. Hell...401(k)'s could end up tanking in the end. I'd love to have a set pension at 55.

Look, I hate the MTA...they're a bunch of crooks. But I haven't met too many friendly TWU folks in my life, either. Frankly, I can't stand any of them. But the fact that they'd go out on strike after such short talks is reprehensible. Most in the TWU make more than me and have better benefits. Know what would happen if I made a sign and picketed the front of my building? I'd have no job.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 12/21/05 at 4:43pm

*standing o*