NYC XYZ Nobody sane would advocate what you express in the last paragraph. Nor would anyone sane (or moral) expect mbuttive subsidies of the transit system (to support or even boost the grossly excessive pay and benefits of the employees), or who advocate misappropriating and misspending capital funds on operating expenses. Union Law BreakersMayor Bloomberg don't point your finger at me and call me a lawbreaker! Your MTA... ... The strike threatened to paralyze the city five days before Christmas, the height of the holiday shopping season, at a cost to the city's economy the mayor estimated at $400 million a day. Bloomberg said the city was seeking an emergency hearing before a state judge to fine Transport Workers Union Local 100 and to force the workers to return. He called for public patience. The move exposes the union and its members to millions of dollars in penalties under a state law that prohibits walkouts by public employees. Strikers risk losing two days' pay for every day of work missed, and the city has filed suit against the union seeking about $22 million a day in damages for lost tax revenue and police overtime in case of a strike. "We did not want a strike, but apparently the MTA, the governor and mayor did,'' Toussaint said as he announced the walkout. New York Governor George Pataki appoints the members of the MTA board. No date was set for a resumption of talks. "The MTA put a fair offer on the negotiating table,'' MTA spokesman Tom Kelly said late last night at the Grand Hyatt hotel near Grand Central Terminal, where the talks were held. "The MTA remains ready to continue negotiations.'' The MTA offered the union a three-year contract with raises of 3 percent, 4 percent and 3.5 percent through 2008, Kelly said. The transit agency also agreed to retain the union's full-pension eligibility age at 55, on condition new hires contribute 6 percent of their annual earnings for 10 years to help finance future pensions, he said. They also gave workers Martin Luther King's Day as a paid holiday. "New Yorkers, this is a fight over whether hard work will be rewarded with a decent retirement, a fight over the erosion or eventual elimination of health benefit coverage for the working people of New York, it is a fight over dignity and respect on the job,'' Toussaint said in a news conference. Subway operators earned an average of $62,438 a year, including overtime, under the previous three-year contract, the MTA said. Train conductors averaged $53,000, subway booth clerks $50,720, and bus drivers $62,551, the state agency said. The MTA wasn't able to provide the average amount of overtime.
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