Notch up another point for law and order, as Judge Theodore Jones yesterday sentenced the head of the Transport Workers Union, Roger Toussaint, to 10 days in jail and a $1,000 fine for his role in orchestrating an illegal subway and bus strike that stranded millions of New Yorkers in the December cold right before Christmas. The sentence isn’t quite a done deal yet – the judge has allowed the union leader 30 days to appeal before he has to report to jail. But it does send a message that radical public-sector unions can’t cripple the city in contravention of state law and expect to get away with it.

Mr. Toussaint’s sentence may strike some New Yorkers as feeble punishment for the misery he inflicted on the city. But we don’t particularly like to dwell on the inconvenience. New Yorkers rose to the occasion admirably, no doubt because across a wide spectrum they saw the point of principle. Our guess is that New Yorkers could have ridden out the strike for a long while, because straphangers were more resolved than the leadership of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in recognizing the importance of reaching a deal that is good for taxpayers and riders, most of whom are not as well compensated, cared for and cushioned on retirement as the union out on an illegal strike.

The sentence handed down yesterday will serve the most admirably if it embolden the MTA’s management to take a tougher line that it has so far. The authority threw down a gauntlet last fall and winter for a more reasonable pension system, more reasonable work rules, and a more reasonable pay scale. The union rejected all those demands, and the authority negotiated away some of its principles. That violating the Taylor Law is seen to carry consequences can change the union’s cost-benefit analysis. That would be the real value of sending Mr. Toussaint to prison.