Re: NYC transit strike is on: Who do you blame?
 

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Transit workers have a hard job

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Maybe some do, but I think as a general statement I disagree.

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You don't think driving a bus or riding in underground tunnels for 8 hours at a time is more taxing than, say, working in an office?

Lots of jobs are tougher, but lots of jobs are easier, too. But whatever; perhaps a better way of phrasing it is that they work hard.

Re: NYC transit strike is on: Who do you blame?
 

It's easy to take the transit service for granted in a large city. Completely shut down is just nuts.

Re: NYC transit strike is on: Who do you blame?
 

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You don't think driving a bus or riding in underground tunnels for 8 hours at a time is more taxing than, say, working in an office?

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Driving a bus is, it's probably one of the worst jobs I can think of. Driving (or whatever the proper verb is) a subway doesn't seem so bad. I'm sure it sucks, but most jobs that require little education suck. That doesn't make it hard though, just bad. You should also clarify what type of office, but I guess this gets the point across.

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Lots of jobs are tougher, but lots of jobs are easier, too. But whatever; perhaps a better way of phrasing it is that they work hard.

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I'm thinking that booth guy has got one of the easiest jobs in the world. It may be one of the most boring, but it's easy as hell. My guess would be that there's more of them than anyone else, but that could be way off.

Re: NYC transit strike is on: Who do you blame?
 

No option for both. Both sides sound inflexible. Three percent a year is not overly generous and in this day and age it is not unreasonable to expect employees to contibute towards what are probably kickass pension and health benefits. It sounds like there is room for compromise.

Re: NYC transit strike is on: Who do you blame?
 

I would imagine the easiest job is sitting in "the booth". I would imagine even driving a train is more difficult than you would imagine thanks to the threat of jumpers.

What I'm saying is that it probably IS difficult, but their salary is commensurate (probably more than commensurate) with the job's difficulty.

Re: NYC transit strike is on: Who do you blame?
 

A pro-union/strike piece.

Re: NYC transit strike is on: Who do you blame?
 

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Driving (or whatever the proper verb is) a subway doesn't seem so bad. I'm sure it sucks, but most jobs that require little education suck. That doesn't make it hard though, just bad.

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It would seem to me that doing something bad for 30 years is a lot harder than doing something hard, but not bad (maybe construction work? I have no idea.).

If something is hard and bad, well . . . let's just just say that sanitation workers deserve every penny they get and then some.

Re: NYC transit strike is on: Who do you blame?
 

1. OP is incorrect about the MTA offer, the latest offer is allowing the retirement age to remain at 55.

2. While some jobs are hard and skilled (Bus Operators, Track Workers), A vast majority of MTA employees (Train Operators/Conductors, Cleaners, Token Clerks) are unskilled workers.

3. handsome is retarted, the subway service is outstanding

4. The only reason for the strike is that Roger Toussaint is on a power trip as big as his fat ass. The majority of union members don't want to strike and international TWU is distancing itself from Local 100.

Re: NYC transit strike is on: Who do you blame?
 

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A pro-union/strike piece.

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The writer makes the valid point that the MTA is not run by angels, and that some working conditions could be improved. However, that surplus he talks about is very temporary, and pretending that it won't be a huge deficit within a year is a quick path to financial ruin.

Re: NYC transit strike is on: Who do you blame?
 

not to turn the forum political, but I thought even the most basic service person in NYC had to have a higher wage just to survive in the city.

But the union can't be having an illegal strike - they're liable to get cracked REAL fast...Look at what happened after the Air Traffic Controller's strike.

I don't envy you guys...wonder how the folks I know in Jeresy are gonna end up doing - lots of carpooling, I guess.

RB