New Yorkers struggle with transit strike

By Christine Kearney and Ellen Wulfhorst

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New Yorkers struggled into work on
foot, by bike and in cars shared with strangers after subway
and bus workers walked off the job for the first time in 25
years on Tuesday, stranding millions of people during a peak
holiday shopping and tourist season.

America’s largest mass transit system ground to a halt just
five days before Christmas in a strike that city officials
warned could cost New York $1.6 billion if it lasts a week.

“It’s always difficult to get a cab, now it’s almost
impossible,” said Jim Davis, a tourist from Philadelphia who
was shopping at a major toy store with his wife and daughters.

Last-ditch talks between the Transport Workers Union and
the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority collapsed
shortly before a midnight strike deadline.

The strike kicked within hours, affecting 7 million subway
and bus users. The last strike in 1980 lasted 11 days.

During the morning rush hour, police set up checkpoints at
bridge and tunnel entrances, turning away cars carrying fewer
than four people to avoid gridlock in Manhattan.

Drivers desperate to fill their cars invited strangers to
get in, while pedestrians made for Shea Stadium in Queens where
city authorities had organized a makeshift carpool center and
cyclists streamed over bridges into the city.

Vehicles were backed up to get into Manhattan, where
morning traffic moved relatively freely because so many cars
were refused entry. People packed onto commuter buses as well
as the suburban trains and ferries that were still running.

Many Wall Street firms had provided shuttle buses to bring
workers in and financial markets were operating as normal.

“It didn’t really affect me, but it’s obviously crippled
the city,” said Peter Lobravico of brokerage Wall St. Access,
who shared a cab with three others, each of whom paid full
fare. “At least the cabbies are making out well,” he said.

‘I LIKE IT UP HERE’

For Joy Bennett, a U.S. immigrant from Jamaica living in
the Bronx, the strike provided her first opportunity to
experience Manhattan from above ground as she normally commutes
through the city on trains and subways entirely below ground.

“This is beautiful,” she said, walking through the dazzling
lights of Times Square before dawn. “I like it up here.”

Others were angry. A state law prohibits strikes by public
employees, and union members could face heavy fines.

“They should all go to jail,” said Jim Giannella, 53,
standing outside a Times Square station closed off with red
tape. “They should have sat there and stayed on the job. It’s
just going to make everyone miserable.”

Attorneys for the MTA and the city went to court on Tuesday
to seek a contempt ruling against the union. The city wants a
$1 million fine for the union and $25,000 for each worker on
day one of the strike, to be doubled each subsequent day.

“There’ll be tremendous pressure on the union. It’s likely
today that a court will impose incredibly onerous fines on the
union and its members that will literally bankrupt the union,”
said Randy Mastro, a lawyer and former deputy mayor who was
responsible for dealing with the MTA from 1994 to 1998.

Train operators, among the most highly paid employees, earn
around $52,000 to 54,000 a year, while a cleaner could earn
from $25,000 to $43,000, according to MTA figures.

“Transit workers are tired of being underappreciated and
disrespected,” TWU chief Roger Toussaint said, announcing the
strike by his 34,000 union members early on Tuesday.

Union and management have been battling over wage hikes,
health-care and pension costs and retirement age. The union
disputes the MTA’s contention that cutbacks in benefits are
necessary, noting the agency has a $1 billion surplus.

The city’s comptroller said on Tuesday the strike could
cost $1.6 billion in the first week, including $400 million on
day one and $300 million the next three days.

(Additional reporting by New York newsroom staff)