New Yorkers faced another bone-chilling commute on Wednesday without their cherished subways and buses as a transit strike entered its second day, leaving both patience and shoe leather wearing thin.
With talks still stalled, a judge imposed a huge fine on Tuesday against the Transport Workers’ Union — $1-million for each day of the strike — and lawyers were due back in court on Wednesday.
The sanction was levied against workers for violating a state law that bars public employees from going on strike. The union said it would immediately appeal, calling the penalty excessive.
The strike over wages and pensions began on Tuesday morning, at a time when the city is especially busy with Christmas shoppers and tourists.
”It’s too cold for this,” said Jose Cespedes (55), a hotel maintenance manager who was planning on walking 25 blocks home in minus four degrees Celsius weather and winds swirling. ”I’m very disappointed that neither side thought enough about the community.”
The mayor put into effect a sweeping emergency plan, including a requirement that cars entering Manhattan below 96th Street have at least four occupants.
Crowds were thick at both Pennsylvania station and Grand Central terminal as commuters waited for trains on the two suburban rail lines, where the number of riders soared.
Bundled up in heavy coats and hats, others shared cabs and car pools, caught water taxis, biked, rollerbladed or even walked. The mayor joined pedestrians hoofing it across the Brooklyn Bridge.
”The city is functioning, and functioning well considering the severe circumstances,” mayor Michael Bloomberg said before ripping into the union, saying ”their leadership thuggishly turned its back” on New York.
On the picket lines, transit workers expressed outrage at management.
Anthony Sabino, professor of law and economics at St Johns University, estimated the city is losing about $100-million a day, a sum he described as ”a big blow to New York. The timing is lousy and the economic impact is lousy.”
New York retailers, restaurants and bars are expected to bear much of the brunt of the strike. The week before Christmas traditionally accounts for up to 20% of many stores’ holiday sales, and consumers who must pay higher taxi fares or face long walks could slow their spending.
The union said the latest MTA offer includes annual pay raises of 3%, 4% and 3,5%. Pensions are another major sticking point in the talks, particularly involving new employees.
In its last offer before negotiations broke down, the MTA had proposed increasing employee contributions to the pension plan from 2% to 6%, said union lawyer Walter Meginniss Jnr. He added that such a change will be ”impossible” for the union to accept.
The International TWU, the union’s parent, had urged the local not to go on strike. Its president, Michael O’Brien, reiterated on Tuesday that the striking workers are legally obligated to resume working. The only way to a contract, he said, is ”not by strike but continued negotiation”.
State Supreme Court Justice Theodore Jones has yet to rule on whether a second union, the Amalgamated Transit Union, will also be fined. The union has two chapters in New York that have joined the strike.
Also undecided is whether the individual officers of the two unions will be fined for supporting the strike. The Transport Workers’ Union’s 33 000 members already face the loss of two days’ pay for every day they are on strike.
The nation’s largest mass transit system counts each fare as a rider, giving it more than seven million riders each day — although many customers take a daily round trip.
The strike was costing Jack Akameiza (66) a day’s pay. He was trying to get from Manhattan to Coney Island and got as far as Grand Central terminal, where he was trying to find a car pool.
”I cannot go to work,” he said. ”I cannot take care of my family.” — Sapa-AP
Associated Press writers Verena Dobnik and Anne D’Innocenzio contributed to this report