Stand Clear of Closing Doors

"Look at me, I'm a regular guy!" -- Mayor Bloomberg

I was trying to hold off talking about the transit strike, but the cumulative effect of about a dozen infuriating discussions over the last several days has made venting a necessity. First of all, the strike had, I think, kind of a galvanizing effect on New Yorkers in general. Just like after 9/11 and again during the blackout in 2003, people got into the habit of starting conversations with random strangers.

The bad part is that a sizable chunk of the people I talked to have no fucking clue what labor disputes are about in general, much less this one in particular. The news media certainly didn't help in that regard, with wall to wall coverage of how fucked up and evil the Transit Worker's Union is. I swear I almost shit myself when I saw one of these dinky local newscasts covering Mike Bloomberg's morning walk over the bridge with 40 people follwing him as if he were Forrest Gump. From the press coverage, you would have thought Jesus was walking across the Brooklyn Bridge to start the End Times.

It's all a publicity stunt. Bloomberg wants to break up the union, like all good billionaire Republicans do, because he wants an influx of cheap labor (like all good billionaire Republicans do). Bloomberg's dream is for a corps of undocumented illegal aliens to be operating the "A" trains and driving the buses for below minimum wage. Quality of life for the employees or the people who ride the system is not important to him, although they spend a lot of time and money trying to convince us otherwise.

A lot of people I know, normally rational, liberal individuals, convinced themselves that Bloomberg wasn't so bad even though he was a Republican. But as with so many other issues, with regard to the transit strike, he falls right in line. What I don't understand is, why do regular people defend a billionaire against a bunch of lunchpail, blue collar workers? A common sentiment I heard from people was, "those motherfuckers make $50,000 a year. I have a college degree and I only make 30K. What do they need MORE money for?"

Well, for one thing, it's not like you'll find this in any of the three major rags, but at the very same time they are crying poverty, the MTA is sitting on a $1 billion surplus. They have been caught in "creative bookkeeping" before, most recently in 2002:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) hid more than half a billion dollars from the public when it was asking for a fare increase by keeping two sets of financial plans, one public and one secret, according to a report issued today by State Comptroller Alan Hevesi.

Only after he subpoenaed the MTA and required testimony of officials did Hevesi's office learn of the internal plan, which showed that the MTA secretly moved funds to reduce its 2002 surplus and create a deficit in 2003. Hevesi announced a reform proposal to change the secretive culture of the MTA to make it more accountable.

Why any person on the street thinks that money should stay in the coffers of the MTA and go to high-ranking bueraucrats rather than the people who do the bulk of the system's work, I have no idea. I think most people don't confront the disconnect in the forefront of their minds, but if that money doesn't go to the guys who make 50K, it will go to the guys who make 500K for doing basically nothing. They must think the money sits there on a cloud.

It seems to me that regular working class people often seem to side against the strikers because they think the strikers are "ungrateful". When I hear that, I can't help thinking of the master/slave relationship. I usually respond (politely; always politely, even to the most slackjawed gawps) by asking, "if you think it's bad for someone who makes $50,000 a year to ask for more money, why don't you get upset about their managers making hundreds of thousands of dollars, refusing to give up that money?" Usually they get a dopey look on their face and start talking about something else really loudly.

Digby has a post where he talks about Republicans who live in constant fear of terrorism, and their craven need to hide behind and answer to an authority figure. I think he's right on with that observation and it applies in labor disputes as well. Some people have a need to invest all their time and energy into pleasing their massas in the managers' office, and when others rebel against poor working conditions, they immediately and reflexively take the side of management.

Secondly, these transit workers do what is, a lot of ways, a shit job. Yes, it pays well, but in order to attract qualified people to it, you have to keep the benefits very attractive. Skimping on the pension and the health benefits (and failing to address some of the more shitty policies of the MTA toward its workers) is not a good way to keep qualified employees, especially when the management tier gets the same benefits package and is not being asked to pay more into it the way the workers are. This is a good way to drive out reliable people from the system. Have you ever been in a serious bus accident? If you have, you're the first one I've heard of.

Where would our society be without strikes? Imagine a world where corporations are allowed to do whatever the fuck they want to do. Eight-year olds working 14-hour days. Asbestos in the workplace. No minimum wage. All these things were addressed because of labor walkouts; this is the only real power they have. Corporations cannot be left to their own devices to care about the human condition; history demostrates that they bend over backwards to try and circumvent the law in order to damage the human condition wherever possible, if it makes them money.

Luckily, every poll I have seen on the subject says that the citizens of New York overwhelmingly support the workers over the MTA. I wouldn't have guessed that from talking to the people I talked to in the street, but it is pretty hopeful, especially in the wake of Bloomberg's prefabricated media blitz to make the transit union look like ogres.

This strike was a major pain in the ass for everyone involved, myself included. But holding the workers responsible as the outlet for your anger is just stupid. Unless you're the heir to a billion-dollar corporation, their struggle is your struggle.