City on Tenterhooks

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

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NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

New Yorkers again find themselves on tenterhooks tonight as a new subway strike deadline looms at midnight. A strike would be senseless, as transit workers are already better paid than most other public servants in the city and disrupting public transit will only cost the union’s members any goodwill they might have among riders. Yet the strike saga has not been entirely useless – it has thrown into sharp relief which city politicians actually care about the public good and which don’t.


The two most disappointing performances have come from the city’s comptroller – and potential mayoral candidate – William Thompson, and a once and (maybe) future mayoral hopeful, Anthony Weiner, both of whom lent their support last week to a rally supporting the transit workers. The boost from Mr. Thompson for a strike that would cripple the city was especially surprising since just a day earlier the comptroller’s office had estimated that the first week of a strike would cost the city’s businesses $1.6 billion and the city had estimated in court papers that business could suffer up to a $660 million daily hit during a walkout.


Messrs. Thompson and Weiner might be hoping that New Yorkers will forget their waywardness in time for the next election. That could prove a vain hope, considering that New Yorkers still keenly remember – and revere – Ed Koch’s leadership during the 1980 strike, when he stood on the Brooklyn Bridge encouraging weary commuters on their way in the face of an 11-day walkout. Mr. Weiner, meanwhile, told union members at the rally that “you are fighting for every New Yorker.” The contrast is, well, striking.


Also appearing at that rally were the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. For two men who have built careers out of their supposed support for the poor and minorities, support for this strike seems like an odd move. While they are cheerleading the transit union’s attempt to grab a 24% raise and generous benefits on top of salaries that are already twice the starting pay for firefighters, policemen, and sanitation workers, the union’s strike would be the most harmful to the poor and elderly who depend on the subways and buses to get them to work and church and doctor’s appointments quickly and cheaply.


Don’t forget the president of the United Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, and the head of the city Central Labor Council, Brian McLaughlin, who also made appearances at that rally. Although some criticized the pay provisions in the teachers’ pact as overly generous, Ms. Weingarten basked in the plaudits of a deal that, at least on paper, offered important concessions on work rules. Her support for the strike will rankle New Yorkers, and especially parents of the children who will have to make it to school without public transit after the chancellor rebuffed Ms. Weingarten’s request that he cancel classes.


The past week has certainly tried New Yorkers’ patience, and the coming week could be even harder if the union walks out at midnight tonight. City residents are now looking for city leaders to show their mettle in the face of adversity. Leaders who, in the face of a union that says it’s prepared to paralyze a city of 8 million residents to secure increases to salaries that are already the envy of many of their neighbors, will stand up for the city and the riders instead of egging on the union.

NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.


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