I wrote this about the strike on another forum but its relevant to this thread:
Lots of rights and wrongs on both sides here. Let me start with the MTA. The MTA is wrong to not treat their workers with some respect. That costs virtually nothing. Workers shouldn't have to ask 30 days in advance to get a day off. Workers shouldn't be brought up on disciplinary charges for violating minor, unsafety-related work rules. The MTA should be more transparent about its finances. The workers shouldn't have to contribute to their health plan because the nature of their job means they are far more likely to get sick or injured than an office worker, for whom asking contributions for health care I wouldn't consider unreasonable. As for wages, there should be regular automatic increases to keep pace with inflation. That shouldn't even have to be negotiated with each contract.
Now the union has done its share of wrongs also. For starters it needs to be realistic about pensions. That means retirement at age 65 to 70 like everyone else, not 55, and the new plan should apply to everyone, not just new workers (multitiered plans are inherently unfair). Fact is that the MTA needs to get its pension costs under control regardless of any supposed surplus. Next, I don't like the talk of "selling out the unborn". It's the MTA's right to assign its workers to whatever duties are needed, and to eliminate certain positions as it deems necessary. Indeed, as a public agency the MTA is obligated to keep costs as low as possible even though the reality is often different. The union seems to think that the MTA is an employment agency not only for present members, but for their children as well. Long term by being inflexible regarding job descriptions the union will only shoot itself in the foot. I have no doubt that the installation of CBTC systemwide will be accelerated. First token clerk positions will be eliminated entirely, followed by conductors. Once the public is comfortable with the idea of unmanned trains, and the idea proves itself, the train operators will go as well. The union will have nobody but itself to blame for this by making labor costs unsustainable. They may yet win this particular battle, but ultimately they'll lose the war. Even longer term, things like station cleaning and car maintenance may be done by robots. Cops may one day be the only humans you see on the system on a regular basis in the future. The union can try to get better conditions for its current workers, but ultimately they can't force the MTA to keep a certain number of workers.
As for public sympathies, had the union postponed the strike until after New Year's they would have had a lot more of it. This was another collosal mistake. I'm hearing calls by some riders for firing the workers as Reagan did with the air traffic controllers. Without the public on their side, the union will ultimately lose. You have to look at it this way-many of the subway riders make $12, $10, some even $1 an hour, and often with no health benefits, no paid holidays, no pension, and much harder working conditions than most MTA workers. They're not likely to be sympathethic to people making 2 or 3 times per hour what they do, and with a benefit package easily worth as much as their salaries.
My predictions-the union will get slapped down hard, the workers will get a lesser package than what the MTA's last offer was, and this will be the beginning of the end for what's left of organized labor in the US. There are a lot of global reasons for this. The US cannot remain competitive on the world stage with workers under traditional union contracts. The continual shedding of jobs by the automakers is a great example of this. Sad to say, but until wages and working conditions come up in the countries the US is competing with, it's going to be all downhill for all workers, not just those in unions. Protectionism, which is essentially what unions are at this point, didn't work in the past and it won't work now. People will have to get used to working harder for less, and retiring later, if at all. Entrepreneurship will remain the one best path to elevating oneself. The idea that you can do so also in a civil service job, or any job, is just about dead. Face it, nobody ever got rich working for someone else.
