The crux of the issue in New York is whether transit workers should be allowed to retire at age 55 or 62. The bigger issue, though, is the one that underlies nearly every labor-management battle in state and local government today:
Who will pay the crushing long-term costs of pensions and health care? Will taxpayers take the brunt of it? Or should employees contribute more, as in the private sector?
The twist in New York, as usual, is the state legislature. The Times has a good explanation of that here. Apparently, pension changes are the legislature's domain, and not something for MTA managers to negotiate at the bargaining table. That, along with the transit union's big campaign donations, puts an ace or two in labor's hand.
Another Times piece today notes that the transit union is uniquely situated to use a strike as a weapon--even though walkouts are technically illegal. It quotes Robert W. Linn, the city's director of labor relations from 1983 to 1989:
"The police officers and firefighters have such an ability to do damage that it's very difficult to conceive of a strike...A transit strike, from the point of view of union power, is almost perfect. It is not absolutely devastating in a life-or-death way, but on the other hand is incredibly potent as a weapon."
Henry J. Stern, the former New York City parks commissioner, argues in an op-ed that part of the problem lies with the structure of the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Control of NYC's buses and trains, he says, should lie with the city, not a quasi-governmental agency controlled by the governor's appointees and others from suburban jurisdictions.
Meanwhile, the conservative New York Sun places the blame squarely with the union, calling the strike "a blatantly illegal act of economic sabotage by a union so selfish that it is willing to destroy one of the most important business weeks in the city in a last-ditch attempt to preserve privileges that most private sector employees can only dream of..."
Lastly, be sure to check out the union's blog, which by noon today had 457 comments on it. Opinion is mixed, though more against the union than for it. A sampling:
* "It takes real courage to strike against this oppressive government, to attempt to bring attention to the importance of treating the workers and all the people in a much fairer way."
* "You guys really have a lot of balls. All you do is drive around in circles. Your job isn't hard at all."
