December 21, 2005
TWU Bad For Labor Nationally?
"As I'm walking, I hope they are walking [Transport Workers Union leader Roger] Toussaint to jail," said Peter Johnson, 56, a Columbia College administrator trekking to work along Broadway. "The people this will hurt the most are the working poor. They can't bear another burden, especially at this festive time of the year."-- NY Daily News, 12/21
Though only two days old, the strike is pushing the millions who in live in and around NYC to the boiling point. And if the anecdotal flavor from the NY tabloids is representative, the TWU is coming in for the lion's share of the blame.
What does this say about the state of organized labor? Perhaps nothing and perhaps it is too soon to gauge. But it is worth considering that this is the first real high profile union strike/walk-out/lock-out since the summer split in the AFL-CIO and the attendant "Whither Labor" stories that the break-up spurred.
Keep in mind, also, that this is not just any strike with a few dozen workers walking a picket line on the sidewalk outside of some factory gates. This is front-page news that is directly impacting the daily lives of millions, not to mention the commerce of one of America's biggest economic engines.
So as the strike continues -- if it continues -- what is to be the political fallout? How do Bloomberg and Pataki come out looking? And as Christmas and Hanukkah draw nearer and the crowds clamoring to see the tree outside of 30 Rock grow, do HRC, Schumer and Spitzer have to speak up? And if so, how do they modulate so as to be tough on Toussaint and the MTA, but not so as to offend the TWA rank-and-file or the likes of Dennis Rivera, John Sweeney and Andy Stern, all of whom who have ties to the tri-state region.
We'd like to hear your thoughts, but we'll just say this -- it does not bode well for Dems and labor when Blue State Ivy Leaguers react to strikes by saying that union chiefs should go to jail.
Posted at 03:04 PM
Comments
FIRE THEM ALL
jp | 12.21.05 03:10 PM
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Personally, I wouldn't read "a Columbia College administrator" as a "Blue State Ivy Leaguer," at least not in any meaningful way. While Ivy League academics may be generally liberal, Ivy League administrations frequently are not, especially on labor issues; Yale, for example, has a long history of union-busting. For all his talk of sympathy for the poor, this is just another managerial-level worker pissed of at being inconvenienced.
Redshift | 12.21.05 03:48 PM
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The anti-union coverage in the media is not being reflected in public opinion polls:
WABC Poll: 52% on side of union, 40% on side of management
WWRL poll: 71% of respondents blamed the MTA and only 14% blamed the transit workers.
Check out this post on the blog MyDD about the polls.
New Yorker | 12.22.05 12:53 AM
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