Tuesday, December 20, 2005

TRANSIT STRIKE: HOUR 7. I guess it's not just a bad dream. It's cold, it's the so-called "holiday season," tens of thousands of striking subway and bus workers have put their jobs at risk, and transportation has become even more difficult than usual for hundreds of thousands if not millions of people in the metropolitan area.

The Transit Workers Union Local 100 has apparently launched a blog, Transit Worker. A lengthy New York Times article is reprinted there; at the time of this post there were nearly 300 comments.

I looked for an online statement at the MTA website, but basically found links to strike-related injunctions.

Here is a statement from Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Here is a statement from Governor George Pataki.

NYPIRG's Straphangers Campaign has wished "transit management and labor success in achieving a fair settlement" and voiced "no desire to inject ourselves into the negotiations. We simply urge both parties to work hard to win a negotiated settlement." The Straphangers Campaign hosts a short page about the situation.

For overall coverage, Manhattan User's Guide recommends "Coping with the Strike" from Gotham Gazette.

Photo: David Marc Fischer

1 comment:

David said...

Today's Times online is soliciting email input about today's commute.

Here's my letter.


Actually, my commute was mostly unaffected. I usually commute by
bicycle over the Manhattan Bridge from Brooklyn to SOHO. Because
public school got off to a late start today, I was even able to get a
little more sleep, leave a little later and enjoy my second quiet ride
on the bridge of late. It was quiet because there were no subways
running. The last time this happened was during the big blackout,
although then it was quite a bit more crowded, and there was a sense
of emergency in the air.


I might as well add here, that because I'm the parent of a 7 year old, I did wear a red cape while I rode. And because this is NYC, I received a few smiles, but didn't get any odd looks or comments.

-dave