transit workers have gone on strike... some say they shouldn't be able to, but they work just like everyone else..
NEW YORK - Subways and buses ground to a halt Tuesday morning as transit workers walked off the job following days of acrimonious labor talks.
The walkout threatened to plunge the city into chaos by forcing more than 7 million daily riders to find new ways to get around.
Authorities began locking turnstiles and shuttering subway entrances shortly after the Transport Workers Union ordered the strike. The city began bracing for a rush hour filled with disorder.
At one subway booth, a handwritten sign read, “Strike in Effect. Station Closed. Happy Holidays!!!!” At Penn Station, an announcement over the loudspeaker told people to “please exit the subway system.”
Mayor Michael Bloomberg began putting into effect a sweeping emergency plan to reduce gridlock and keep certain streets open for emergency vehicles. It included requiring cars coming into Manhattan below 96th Street to have at least four occupants.
New Yorkers were urged to make arrangements to car pool, bicycle and walk to work, or change their schedules and work from home.
The union called the strike after a late round of negotiations broke down Monday night. Union President Roger Toussaint said the union board voted overwhelmingly to call the strike.
“This is a fight over dignity and respect on the job, a concept that is very alien to the MTA,” Toussaint said in announcing the strike. “Transit workers are tired of being underappreciated and disrespected.”
'A slap in the face'
The news drew an angry response from the mayor, governor and head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow called the strike “a slap in the face” to all New Yorkers and said state lawyers will immediately head to court in seeking to block the walkout.
“This is not only an affront to the concept of public service, it is a cowardly attempt by Roger Toussaint and the TWU to bring the city to its knees to create leverage for their own bargaining position,” said Bloomberg at a news conference.
Bloomberg headed to the Office of Emergency Management headquarters and planned to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge on Tuesday morning to City Hall.
The union and MTA had worked furiously to try to reach a new contract, hoping to avoid the city’s first transit strike in more than 25 years. It is illegal for mass transit workers to strike in New York, which means the 33,000 bus and subway employees will incur huge fines — two days’ pay for each day on strike.
Bloomberg has said the walkout could cost the city as much as $400 million a day, and would be particularly harsh at the height of the holiday shopping and tourist season. He said a strike would freeze traffic into “gridlock that will tie the record for all gridlocks.”
“They have broken the trust of the people of New York,” Pataki said. “They have not only endangered our city and state’s economy, but they are also recklessly endangering the health and safety of each and every New Yorker.”
MTA spokesman Tom Kelly said the agency “put a fair offer” on the table before talks broke down. “Unfortunately, that offer has been rejected.”
NEW YORK - Subways and buses ground to a halt Tuesday morning as transit workers walked off the job following days of acrimonious labor talks.
The walkout threatened to plunge the city into chaos by forcing more than 7 million daily riders to find new ways to get around.
Authorities began locking turnstiles and shuttering subway entrances shortly after the Transport Workers Union ordered the strike. The city began bracing for a rush hour filled with disorder.
At one subway booth, a handwritten sign read, “Strike in Effect. Station Closed. Happy Holidays!!!!” At Penn Station, an announcement over the loudspeaker told people to “please exit the subway system.”
Mayor Michael Bloomberg began putting into effect a sweeping emergency plan to reduce gridlock and keep certain streets open for emergency vehicles. It included requiring cars coming into Manhattan below 96th Street to have at least four occupants.
New Yorkers were urged to make arrangements to car pool, bicycle and walk to work, or change their schedules and work from home.
The union called the strike after a late round of negotiations broke down Monday night. Union President Roger Toussaint said the union board voted overwhelmingly to call the strike.
“This is a fight over dignity and respect on the job, a concept that is very alien to the MTA,” Toussaint said in announcing the strike. “Transit workers are tired of being underappreciated and disrespected.”
'A slap in the face'
The news drew an angry response from the mayor, governor and head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow called the strike “a slap in the face” to all New Yorkers and said state lawyers will immediately head to court in seeking to block the walkout.
“This is not only an affront to the concept of public service, it is a cowardly attempt by Roger Toussaint and the TWU to bring the city to its knees to create leverage for their own bargaining position,” said Bloomberg at a news conference.
Bloomberg headed to the Office of Emergency Management headquarters and planned to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge on Tuesday morning to City Hall.
The union and MTA had worked furiously to try to reach a new contract, hoping to avoid the city’s first transit strike in more than 25 years. It is illegal for mass transit workers to strike in New York, which means the 33,000 bus and subway employees will incur huge fines — two days’ pay for each day on strike.
Bloomberg has said the walkout could cost the city as much as $400 million a day, and would be particularly harsh at the height of the holiday shopping and tourist season. He said a strike would freeze traffic into “gridlock that will tie the record for all gridlocks.”
“They have broken the trust of the people of New York,” Pataki said. “They have not only endangered our city and state’s economy, but they are also recklessly endangering the health and safety of each and every New Yorker.”
MTA spokesman Tom Kelly said the agency “put a fair offer” on the table before talks broke down. “Unfortunately, that offer has been rejected.”
