First, the MTA cries poverty, telling us they're deep in the red and need to hike the fares. Then, it turns out they were keeping two sets of books, so they actually have a big SURPLUS.
Now they're striking??
Link: New York Daily News - Home - City war plan for transit walkout.
City war plan for transit walkout
BY MICHAEL SAUL and PETE DONOHUE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERSCommuters stream into city April 7, 1980, during last strike.
Workers rail for big raisesThe city has begun preparing for a possible transit strike that would leave millions of New Yorkers stranded in the middle of the holiday season, the Daily News has learned.
If the MTA strikes, they're going to cripple the city during the important holiday shopping season, causing a lot of economic distress for hundreds of thousands of other workers. Lots of babysitters, eldarly caregivers, etc. won't be able to make it to work either. Its just very selfish, especially when you consider how much better the average transit worker's salary and benefits are then a lot of the other people in this city.
Perhaps busboys, dishcleaners, and newsstand workers should go on strike... the working poor with jobs nobody else wants. But as for transit workers, they can strike without pay for as long as they want, for all I care, and I hope they get fined amounts equalling the economic hardship they cause the rest of the city. In the meantime, I'm happy to bike to work. Ridiculous.