It’s official:
The power of the Transit Workers to wreak economic
havoc is unsurpassed—yet just this side of unthinkable. For
the police or fire departments to strike is unthinkable;
but the MTA union has the unmatched tactical advantage of being able
to bring the City to its knees, literally within minutes of commencing
their strike, without inflicting permanent damage.
(When I went
running this morning at 5:30, cars and trucks were already backed up
as far as the eye could see from the police checkpoints at 96th Street,
stopping all vehicles with fewer than four passengers from proceeding
further downtown—and the strike was 2-1/2 hours old.)
I view the negotiations surrounding the strike as a fascinating
example of strategic considerations, because the City’s legal cudgel
is the flat statutory prohibition on the transit workers’ striking, with
fines of double their daily pay for each day they’re out. Raising
the stakes for both sides is the nature of the key issue which has become
the sticking point: The City is insisting that newly hired transit
workers not be eligible for retirement until age 62 (current employees
are eligible at 55). Under the slogan, "protecting the unborn,"
the Union is refusing to agree.
What makes this particularly problematic? That it’s
not a readily "divisible" issue: It’s all or nothing. If
this strike were only about 4% vs. 6% raises, it would never have happened. You
and I both know the answer to that one is 5%.
But
both sides in the end have to play to public opinion: The union
taking the stance of hard-working, under-appreciated public servants
at the end of their rope, the City as guardian and savior of the working
class masses from the outer boroughs. Or,
as a store owner adjacent to the busiest Brooklyn subway station (Fulton
Street), put it, showing an estimable level of economic sophistication: "I
pay good money to have my store here. Is my rent bill gonna go
on strike?"
Those who must be physically at their jobs (or whose customers,
patients, or students must be) are hardest hit by this. As for
people like me? If we don’t already live within walking distance
of our Manhattan offices, we can telecommute.
