very simple

The transit strike is on.

And as an extra added bonus, it’s going to be super cold today. Yippee!

I actually sympathize with the transit workers much more than the MTA – The MTA has been cooking the books for ages (it was discovered last year that they actually kept two sets of books), and they recently announced a billion dollar surplus. Which they promptly gave away in discounted rides to tourists.

I’m pretty sure that the people who travel all the way to NY to look at a big Christmas tree at this time of year really wouldn’t care whether they had to pay $2 or $1 to get around. But announcing such extra money, and basically giving it away just days before the TWU contract expires, and then crying poverty to a point where you’re demanding that workers (who work one of the hardest, dirtiest, most stressful jobs in the city) work an extra seven years before retirement? Is just really bad form.

If a private corporation had an underfunded pension system, they would be legally required to use the extra money to fund the pension before they started just giving it away. So why didn’t the MTA use even a portion of the billion to shore up the very thing that they’re now claiming is the cause of their inability to meet worker demands?

I’m not saying that the TWU wasn’t asking for too much in their initial demands. But that’s exactly what they were – initial demands. I don’t think they’re expecting to get everything, but I do think that the MTA isn’t acting in good faith.

All I know is that I now have to walk to work. Which sucks.

Tags: new york city