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Union heads could face jail over NY strike

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 December 2005, 17:30 CST

By Chris Reese and Claudia Parsons

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The leaders of the union behind New York's crippling mass transit strike could face jail, a judge warned on Wednesday as commuters were forced to improvise for a second day to get to work.

The day after a court slapped $1 million a day in fines on the striking union, a judge ordered TWU Local 100 leader Roger Toussaint and other top officials to appear in court on Thursday, warning that jail was a "distinct possibility."

Toussaint apologized to New Yorkers for the inconvenience but said the strike was provoked. He also said the union was talking to mediators and would consider returning to work if transit authorities withdrew a contentious pension proposal.

The bus and subway strike by some 34,000 transit workers is New York's first for 25 years.

State law prohibits public sector employees from striking, and the judge is considering imposing fines on workers.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg denounced the "illegal and selfish" strike, but said jailing union heads would risk making them martyrs and that he would prefer heavier fines.

Public opinion was divided in response to the strike, but feelings were high. One bar ran a newspaper ad saying it would charge Transit Workers Union members $1 extra per drink to compensate for the loss of business, adding: "Bah Humbug!"

Two local tabloids showed little sympathy for the strikers. "Mad As Hell" the Daily News screamed on its front page. The New York Post had this message for strikers: "You Rats."

Bloomberg and Gov. George Pataki both said on Wednesday workers must end the strike before negotiations can resume, insisting an illegal strike will not profit the union.

In its final offer before talks collapsed, the MTA raised its wage offer and withdrew a proposal to raise the retirement age for new hires to 62 from 55. But it also presented a new proposal to make new hires contribute 6 percent of salary to pension funds, a demand that the union rejected out of hand.

"If the pension demands ... come off the table, that would go a long way to us resuming the negotiations and resolving the strike issue," Toussaint said at a news conference.

BEGGING, BIKING AND SKATING

The main preoccupation for many of the 7 million New York area commuters who rely on buses and subways was getting around.

"I am a fifth grade teacher, and I need to get to my class!" read one posting on www.craigslist.com seeking a ride.

"Anyone driving from the Met to Brooklyn tonight?" read another message from somebody hoping not to waste their tickets to the Metropolitan Opera on Wednesday evening.

Todd X, 36, said his shop, Bicycle Habitat, stayed open three hours late on Tuesday to cope with the extra work.

"We're getting a lot of flat tires, mostly on decrepit pieces of garbage that people unearth from the basement at the last possible moment," he said.

Rudi Hiebert, a 42-year old medical researcher, said the lack of subways was a good excuse for him to brave the cold and get back on his in-line skates, unused for over a year.

"I need the exercise," he said after crossing Manhattan Bridge from Brooklyn. "It's a beautiful day -- I think I might keep skating to work even when the strike is over."

Officials have said the strike will cost the city $400 million on day one and $300 million a day until Friday.

With temperatures below freezing despite bright sunshine, commuters walked long distances to work, or hailed cabs if they could find them. Bloomberg said there had been some reports of price gouging by taxis and authorities were investigating.

John Levine, 29, said he had started work at 4:00 a.m. to beat the traffic on his route delivering beer. "People still need their beer, just like normal," he said.

Source: REUTERS

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