NYC MTA Strike

U.S.A. New York

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How is everyone coping with the NYC MTA Strike? How did you manage to get to work today? Let the world know how NYC Nurses are feeling!

:angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire

On my behalf I didn't go to work today. With no Subways or buses running it was extremely hard getting to work. Walking/bicycling/rollarblading from the Bronx to Lower Manhattan isn't doable especially with the temperature in the 20's. Besides it's difficult finding a cab or finding complete strangers to carpool with. :uhoh3: :angryfire :imbar :uhoh21:

Please share your stories of Day 1 (MTA Strike)

Ari RN

First off let me commend all nurses who are making it to work during these difficult times as essential as you are New York City's patients need you!!!! I worked in the city hospitals when I lived there and we were short enough but dedicated professionals such as yourselves made it to work ---- despite 911, despite the snowstorms, remember the blackout summer 2003? I've walked across the Brooklyn bridge, Madison Ave bridge, 135th street bridge ---- Tappan Zee (maybe not)

From what I see on the news nothing can paralyze NYC, not even the tranit authority-----it can only slow NYC down.

As far as strikes go let us not forget--- the many strikes nurses have had to strike and walk out of hospitals demanding better pay, better patient ratios, I remember a particular strike where agencies were offering nurses $$$$$$ to cross hospital picket lines. With MTA who can replace them--- sure there are people who can probably drive a bus up and down 7th avenue but who knows how to open and close those subway doors:angryfire

I have enjoyed reading some of the responses here and keeping up with the strike on cable news. I would like to share my experiences, in 1965 and 1966, when both the transit workers went out but the nurses did as well. I was a student, At Elmhurst, when the transit workers went out. We had been on Christmas vacation but were made to return early, just in case the worse happen, which it did. I remember the look on Mayor L face the first day. He couldn't believe what had happen and many NYers didn't forget either. And his responsibility for the strike. Most hospitals had staff come in earlier as an attempt to short out a shortage. When the nurses went out, we were asked to volunteer, to cover. You see, our program did not allow us to be counted as staff, so we couldn't be ordered to work. Thank heavens the city cavred in more rapidly for the nurses then it did for the transit workers.

I live in a right to work state. Unions are basically non-existent here in Florida, or very weak. I would much rather live in a city or state where unions have the power to strike and make the city fathers sit up and bargain, in good faith. I just wonder how long it will take Bloomburg. And our public transportation system here is about as good as salaries for RNs are down here.

Grannynurse:balloons:

The one thing that I can thank the strike for is that I got out of jury duty!!! LOL! Seriously, they cancelled jury duty b/c other than subway, how do you get to downtown Bklyn's courthouses. I had a wonderful day OFF today.

Luckily, I live a mere few minutes drive/walk from my hospital so thats not an issue. And surprisingly, we were full staff yesterday.

I had the first day off but had to walk to work tonight, over the Triborough. I could have caught a shuttle the hospital offered but was kind of afraid I would miss it.

I was a NYSNA nurse before I switched over to travel nursing and fully support the transit workers right to strike. My bone of contention has been the way the media has protrayed the strikers. Yes the strike has inconvenienced many and is causing millions of dollars of lost revenue to the city but that doesn' t, IMHO, take away the transit workers right to strike. I don't think any of them went into this in a lighthearted manner. They, transit workers, have a lot to lose as well, especially with these fines they keep imposing. The media has minimalized the support from the public and protrayed the strikers as greedy taking the public "hostage" for their own benefit.

I think as nurses we can all learn from the stand these brave men and women have taken. Perhaps if we united and demanded changes we wouldn't see unsafe pt ratios and salaries that just barely allow us to pay the bills.

Good luck to all my fellow NYC nurses and Happy Holidays!

My husband is the president of his union local so I do understand the value of unions and appreciate what solidarity has accomplished.

That doesn't mean I automatically support all strikes.

I've tried to concentrate on the factual aspects of this strike and the information I have seen and heard leaves me leaning against the MTA.

The average pay of these employees is supposedly $61,000 a year. That's before overtime, and the quote I heard said overtime is readily available.

The average pay for an NYC resident was said to be $53,000. If that's the case, it might explain why the strikers are not receiving a whole lot of sympathy.

Also, the change in retirement age from 62 to 55 seems unreasonable. I'm sure we'd all love to retire at 55? Some people manage to invest well enough to pull it off. But, it's just not realistic to demand to knock off that early on a company pension. A seven-year drop in retirement age is a drastic change that will place a huge burden on the city. The only concession I saw in this area was that NEW hires would contribute 6% of their pay for the first ten years instead of the current 2%. But none of the current employees would have to kick in one additional dime.

Cops can retire after twenty years. Many don't, and while they're working, most of them make less than transit workers for a job with greater risks. Of those who do take the early out, almost all of them find another job, either in a smaller municipality or in security because the pension isn't enough to live on.

NYC is a horrendously expensive place to live. That's a given. I'm sure lots of rank and file workers would love more money and better benefits, but nothing is going to change for them just because they want more.

Apart from the strike demands themselves, I am appalled that the MTA chose this timing. The big corporations will tough it out, but the little guys might not. So many families live paycheck to paycheck and some will suffer greatly over missing a week of work. Merchants and restaurants have been brought to their knees--you can't open if you have no workers and you don't need to open if you have no customers. Add to this the cold weather and people who rely on public transportation to get to medical appointments and school and very basic jobs and I just can't get excited thinking of Hank the bus driver getting to retire 7 years ahead of schedule.

I think it would have been much more appropriate (not to mention sympathetic) if they'd staged a one-day strike the week AFTER Christmas, just to get their point across. Doing this has hurt many, many people who make far less money than the striking workers.

I can't help but compare these strikers with various airline employees who have intiated job actions because they were being threatened with losing their pensions entirely on top of having to accept 20-30% pay CUTS. It is ironic to me that NYC will have to deal with economic damage reminiscent of the areas hit by hurricanes and it will have been caused by choice. This stikes me (no pun intended) as extremely insensitive timing--both because of the week itself and because of the state of the economy--to be engaging in this kind of tactic. Judging from the polls I have seen, public sentiment is against the MTA by a whopping margin.

It's ironic to me that the "little guys" of the MTA are so willing to put the screws to so many other little guys by wreaking havoc on their lives.

One final thought. It's easy for those of us who don't live in NYC to breathe a sigh of relief and think we've dodged this bullet. But, how will we feel when the mayor and governor appeal to the feds for economic assistance-small business loans, money to cover possible shortfalls, food stamps, public assistance and medicaid for those who lost their jobs, etc.?

Again, as the wife of a union local president, I understand the need for and the value of worker solidarity. But I also believe you have to choose your battles very carefully and retain a sense of reality, proportion, and decency and remember that your actions affect, not only the big guns you're trying to bargain with, but also a lot of other workers.

I hope, for the sake of all concerned, that this strike is over soon.

Specializes in Med/ Surg and Orthopedics.

I have been fortunate in the strike, since my finals were over last week and I am able to drive into work with a short commute.

It is hard for me to pinpoint one particular reason, good or bad, why the TWU is on strike. The media puts their own spin on the negotiations and it seems like both sides are at war. It is hard for me to trust news reporting these days. I feel sorry for those that will lose wages, jobs and school time during the brief period of struggle in NYC. If my mom was not retired and available to help me with my 5yo daughter, I would probably be stuck looking for babysitting during the 2 hour school delay!

Good luck and Happy Holidays to all who must endure the Christmas Strike of 2005...

BREAKING NEWS: The strike may be over soon! Union officials will meet at 1pm this afternoon to decide when the strike will end....stay tuned to your local news.

Specializes in Psych, Derm,Eye,Ortho,Prison,Surg,Med,.

The Strike is over as of this afternoon!!!!

Did you guys know that Kalilow (MTA's President) approved a 22% salary increase to its directors back in 2002-2003 when the MTA had a deficit. Its top salaries increased from $192,000 to 235,000 PLUS a monthly housing allowance of $4000 a month PLUS a $13,000 annual contribution towards their retirement (the maximum contribution)!! Now they have a billion dollar surplus and are so greedy that they don't even want to give a poor 3% salary increase for the workers that, granted aren't the most educated or friendliest people but work hard to keep our city going. That frustrates me! I am also a bit disappointed in how NYC didn't back the TWU when they needed it. Yes it was a major inconvinience but lets put aside our needs for a sec and listen to the causes and major issues causing this strike.

Specializes in Psych, Derm,Eye,Ortho,Prison,Surg,Med,.

Don't feel sorry for them. They make a very good salary. I never earned as much as them with a Master of Science degree.

Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.
Don't feel sorry for them. They make a very good salary. I never earned as much as them with a Master of Science degree.

Not a fair statement. Your choice of career has nothing to do with theirs. I think they should be paid accordingly regardless of their education. They are no less than you with your Masters ;)

Specializes in ED, ICU, PACU.
Don't feel sorry for them. They make a very good salary. I never earned as much as them with a Master of Science degree.

35K starting salary is a "very good salary?" I'm kinda feeling more sorry for you.

lol....funny loricactus....Rock its not about feeling sorry for anyone, its about injustice within the system. Why is it so difficult to approve a small raise to its workers, the workers who actually keep the MTA running so difficult when there is a surplus and why was it so easy to approve a 22% raise increase and benefit to its top MTA directors when they already were making a nice salary back in 2002-2003 while there was a defecit. Its not fair, I don't know why Toussaint didn't bring that up. It just reminds me of how the rich is so greedy and live to live off its workers and the poor and in the end takes all the credit for the work.

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