New York – Subways and buses ground to a halt this morning as transit workers walked off the job, forcing millions of riders to search for new ways to get around and sending state lawyers into court demanding stiff fines against the strikers.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who had said the strike would cost the city as much as $400 million a day, joined the throngs of people crossing the Brooklyn Bridge as he walked from a Brooklyn emergency headquarters to City Hall.
“It’s a form of terrorism, if you ask me,” said Maria Negron, who walked across the bridge. “I hope they go back to work.” Other New Yorkers car-pooled or rode bicycles in the cold; early morning temperatures were in the 20s.
With traffic rules in place to prevent gridlock, the city survived the morning rush without the feared chaos. Manhattan streets were unusually quiet; some commuters just stayed home.
Public officials carried out their threat of quick legal action, heading into a courtroom in Brooklyn. It is illegal for mass transit workers to strike in New York state and the 33,000 transit employees could face fines of two days’ pay for each day off the job.
The striking members of Transport Workers Union Local 100 deserve a “very potent fine” for the walkout because of its economic and social cost, James Henly of the state attorney general’s office said in court. But TWU attorney Arthur Schwartz accused the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of provoking the strike.
Gov. George Pataki publicly attacked the union.
“The TWU has broken the law,” Pataki said at a Manhattan news conference. “That is wrong, and they will suffer the consequences.” No talks between the two sides were scheduled by this afternoon.
It was New York’s first citywide transit walkout since an 11-day strike in 1980. Pay raises and pension and health benefits for new hires were main sticking points.
“I’m not happy about this,” said Yvette Vigo, whose teeth were chattering after she walked a couple of miles to pick up a company-run shuttle bus at Wall Street. “It’s too cold to walk this far.” Authorities locked turnstiles and shuttered subway entrances shortly after the Transport Workers Union ordered the strike. The nation’s largest mass transit system counts each fare as a rider, giving it more than 7 million riders each day – although many customers take a daily round trip.
At one subway booth, a handwritten sign read: “Strike in Effect. Station Closed. Happy Holidays!!!!” Huge lines formed at ticket booths for the commuter railroads that stayed in operation, and Manhattan-bound traffic backed up at many bridges and tunnels as police turned away cars with fewer than four people.
Transit workers took to the picket lines with signs that read: “We Move NY. Respect Us!” “I think they all should get fired,” said Eddie Goncalves, a doorman trying to get home after his overnight shift. He said he expected to spend an extra $30 per day in cab and train fares.
Commuters lined up for cabs and gathered in clusters on designated spots throughout the city for company vans and buses to shuttle them to their offices.
“It doesn’t seem right to tie up the cultural and investment center of the world,” said Larry Scarinzi, 72, a retired engineer from Whippany, N.J., waiting for a cab outside Penn Station.
“They’re breaking the law. They’re tearing the heart out of the nation’s economy.” Bloomberg, who had predicted “gridlock that will tie the record for all gridlocks,” put into effect a sweeping emergency plan, including the requirement that cars entering Manhattan below 96th Street have at least four occupants. As he walked across the bridge, he smiled, admired the view and called the strike “outrageous.” The union called the strike around 3 a.m. after a late round of negotiations with the MTA broke down Monday night. Union President Roger Toussaint said the union board voted overwhelmingly to call the strike.
“This is a fight over dignity and respect on the job, a concept that is very alien to the MTA,” Toussaint said. “Transit workers are tired of being underappreciated and disrespected.” The union said the latest MTA offer included annual raises of 3 percent, 4 percent and 3.5 percent; the previous proposal included 3 percent raises each year. MTA workers typically earn from $35,000 as a starting salary to about $55,000 annually.
Toussaint said the union wanted a better offer, especially since the MTA has a $1 billion surplus this year.
A key issue was the MTA’s proposal to raise the age at which new employees become eligible for a full pension from 55 to 62, which the union says is unfair. The MTA later agreed to allow pension eligibility at 55 for new employees, but they would be asked to pay more out of their salaries.
The contract expired Friday at midnight, but the two sides had continued talking through the weekend.
