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Old 12-16-2005, 12:49 PM
xadrez xadrez is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: the island of dr. klahn
Posts: 303
Default Re: NYC Transit Strike: TWU declares series of strikes

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Pretty pathetic showing by the union. If you say you're going to strike, fuckign strike! Who takes private busses anyway? This is like asbestos installers striking.

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Dude, the point isn't going on strike. It's being willing to go on strike in order to get the concessions you want. You should know that.

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But it doesn't seem like they are willing to.

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As a former Union delegate, I have to weigh in here. I have been on the verge of going on strike before and its not something to take lightly. The hope is, going down to the very last second, that you can avoid it. Striking is viewed as by the Union, as a "nuclear option". Once you strike, the "good faith" of collective bargaining goes flying out the window, and what happens next is something that can go in any number of vastly different directions many of which can turn absolutely devastating to the union members.

For example, if a strike occurs all those MTA workers (who no doubt are not rich) will not be getting paid indefinatetly. Also, NYC will immediately file grievances to the NLRB, and the TWU will incur millions in fines (in fact, they are still paying the fines from the last time they held a strike, in 1980).

The extension to Monday signals that the Union and the MTA agreed on certain issues. I have sat in on bargaining sessions and in many ways its akin to playing a game like poker. Im not going to make any further analogies, I think most people will get the example.

And to the guy who said the workers should quit complaining, STFU. If it werent for Unions and collective bargaining you wouldnt have 1/2 the benefits you are afforded today in your workplace.
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