Base10 is on his way to work and all he has to say is, "So far, so good." An unusual development occurred in the TWU labor negotiations. The union--probably realizing the minimal impact of a Friday strike--made a statement that it was not moved by the MTA's most recent offer and instead called for a minimal partial strike on some of the outer borough bus lines. (These buses, if you're not familiar with the situation, used to belong to private franchises but have just been taken over by the MTA). The TWU president called for expanding strikes to "MTA property" early next week unless the MTA opens up their coffers some more.

The situation is interesting. By calling for a limited strike, the TWU is flexing its muscles. Of course, they have also painted themselves into a corner should the MTA stick with the same offer. But it does leave the politicians some time to convince the MTA to--while not giving away the store--up the ante a little. This is essentially what happened last time when the union threatened to strike.

What does this mean? For the average commuter, nothing, because the buses and trains are running--for the most part and at least until Tuesday morning. For the transit worker it means uncertainty.

This is a good example of the unfairness of the Taylor Law. Under that law, certain "essential" are forbidden by law to strike. The stick in the scheme is the ability to seek injunctive relief and massively fine the uinion and individual workers. The Taylor law must be reformed. While it takes the strike away--and I'm certainly not arguing that police and fire unions should be able to strike--it provides no incentive to municipalites to bargain in good faith.

As a municipal employee I never expected to get rich, but I do expect a fair raise from time to time and in a timely fashion. The Taylor law in fact encourages the city to be behind a cycle. The PBA for instance just settled for two years and their contract is already expired. The other uniform unions did four-year deals but even these will expire in 18 months.

- posted by Base10 @ 4:11 PM