Mayor Bloomberg Condemns New York City Transit Strike, MTA Workers Hold Firm

On Tuesday, 33,000 New York City transit workers went on strike shutting down the country's largest public transportation system for the first time in 25 years. More than 7 million commuters were left to find alternative ways to get around the city. The Transport Worker's Union board voted to strike after a 12-hour round of intense negotiations between Peter S. Kalikow, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's chairman, and Roger Toussaint, president of Local 100 of the TWU. The two sides could not reach an agreement on a number of issues including wages, pensions and disciplinary procedures.

The strike was announced yesterday morning at around 3 AM by Toussaint. He said that the strike was "a fight over dignity and respect on the job - a concept that is very alien to the MTA." Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has been urging the Union to give in to the MTA's demands, called the strike selfish and illegal.

* Michael Bloomberg, New York City, press conference, December 20, 2005.

Late Tuesday, State Supreme Court Judge Theodore Jones leveled a fine of $1 million a day on the union, charging that it was in violation of the Taylor law. The Taylor Law is a state statute that prohibits strikes by public employees.

Democracy Now Producer, Elizabeth Press spoke to some transit workers yesterday to find out how they felt about the strike.

* Irving Lee, MTA Train Operator
* John Victor, MTA Train Conductor
* Jay Callahan, MTA Train Conductor

Democracy Now Producers, Elizabeth Press and Ana Nogueira also asked some commuters how they felt about the strike.

* New York City commuters,

We go now to longtime labor reporter and Democracy Now co-host Juan Gonzalez. He's been closely covering the strike for the past few days.

* Juan Gonzalez, Democracy Now co-host and columnist with the New York Daily News.
Read Juan's article on the strike: "Arrogance of the MTA made strike a certainty"

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