Take the N Train to Negotiations

Will they... or won't they? As the Friday deadline approaches for the expiration of the Transport Workers' Union contract with the MTA, New Yorkers are getting all nervous with anticipation at the threat of a strike. Usually everyone gets all hopped up and then, like a blizzard averting course at the last minute, a deal is reached and the subway and bus workers stay at work. But every twenty years or so the talks fail, a new contract is not accepted, and the TWU goes on strike. Because the union and the MTA are so far apart on their demands right now, a strike is slightly more likely than usual.

What I want to know is, how would such a strike affect me? For better or worse, I find total infrastructrual breakdowns pretty exciting. And I live in Westchester county, rather out of the mix (here in Westchester we pronounce it "rawther"); while I haven't been able to figure out conclusively whether the TWU covers the Metro North commuter rail employees, I don't believe that they do. I only work two days a week because of my glamorous student lifestyle, so if I can't get to work I wouldn't be missing that much anyway. Therefore my considered opinion, fashioned in the form of a stirring protest chant, is, Screw You, MTA, and Give the Transit Workers a Decent Raise Instead of the Paltry and Almost Laughable Sum You Are Currently Offering, the Whole of Which is Almost Entirely Subsumed by the New Contributions to Health Care and Pensions That You Demand! Kind of catchy, don't you think? I've always thought I'd make a good union organizer.


Learn more about the TWU here

Photo by Kirsten