The Montreal transit strike two years ago was horribly unpopular, but at least I have a car so it wasn’t so bad.
I’ve been to London during an Underground strike, to Barcelona during a public bus strike, and to Venice during a public boat strike. All of those were, er, interesting experiences, to say the least.
But nothing can compare to the havoc being wreaked in New York City thanks to a massive MTA strike:
During the morning rush hour, police set up checkpoints at bridge and tunnel entrances, turning away cars carrying fewer than four people to avoid gridlock in Manhattan.
Drivers desperate to fill their cars invited strangers to get in, while cyclists streamed over bridges into the city.
Vehicles were backed up to get into Manhattan, where morning traffic moved relatively freely because so many cars were refused entry. People packed onto commuter buses as well as the suburban trains and ferries that were still running.
The strike is illegal and the union is being fined a million dollars each day it goes on. There’s simply no way any settlement they hope to get out of this will compensate for that. And so, the union workers lose, the city loses, and the commuters lose. Nobody wins. That’s the idiocy of a mass transit strike.
Instapundit has more, including comments left by irate commuters on the unofficial transit union’s blog (via Damian Penny).
Not NYNY but close enough….
M.T.A.
by N/A
Spoken:
These are the times that try men’s souls. in the course of our
Nation’s history, the people of boston have rallied
Bravely whenever the rights of men have been threatened. today,
A new crisis has arisen. the metropolitan
Transit authority, better known as the m. t. a., is attempting
To levy a burdensome tax on the population in the
Form of a subway fare increase. citizens, hear me out! this
Could happen to you!
(eight bar guitar, banjo introduction)
Well, let me tell you of the story of a man named charley on a
Tragic and fateful day.
He put ten cents in his pocket, kissed his wife and family, went
To ride on the m. t. a.
Chorus:
Well, did he ever return? no, he never returned and his fate is
Still unknown. (what a pity! poor ole charlie. shame and
Scandal. he may ride forever. just like paul revere.)
He may ride forever ‘neath the streets of boston. he’s the man
Who never returned.
Charlie handed in his dime at the kendall square station and he
Changed for jamaica plain.
When he got there the conductor told him, “one more
Nickel.” charlie couldn’t get off of that train.
(chorus)
Now, all night long charlie rides through the station, crying,
“what will become of me?!!
How can i afford to see my sister in chelsea or my cousin in
Rocksbury?”
(chorus)
Charlie’s wife goes down to the sculley square station every day
At quarter past two,
And through the open window she hands charlie a sandwich as the
Train comes rumblin’ through.
(chorus)
Now, you citizens of boston, don’t you think it’s a scandal how
The people have to pay and pay?
Fight the fare increase! vote for george o’brien! get poor
Charlie off the m. t. a.
(chorus)
He’s the man who never returned. he’s the man who never
Returned. ain’t you charlie?
I tracked back and read some of your comments on unions. While it may be true that some unions sometimes go too far, do you really think that we don’t need them anymore. You said yourself unions were needed because of bad working conditions, wages, etc. Do you really think that if unions disappeared those benefits they won us would stay? I really think not and the current union bashing is just tapping into that sentiment in the hopes of rolling us all back to the pre-union days. This is what is happening in general with hard won rights. Also with the medical and education systems.
Tre, when did I ever say we should do away with unions altogether? But I’d like to thank you for once again twisting what I said and putting words in my mouth.
Yeah, I did not read your last paragraph…sorry. But when you say reforms, what exactly do you mean? Because most of your post was a rant against unions and strikes and then there’s one line about reform without any concrete suggestions. You can’t blame anyone for misreading that.