Editorial: New York City Transit Strike 2005
Welcome to the New York City Transit Strike of 2005.
More than 8 million people are experiencing a transportation stoppage
similar to the one that took place in 1980, a generation ago.
Now it’s twenty-five years later and here we are.
We’re walking to work, car pooling and doing whatever we have to do to
keep our lives normal, without our trains, without our buses.
We at the Liberal Party of New York will keep it
“short and real”. We see both sides as not being honest with each other,
at the expense of New Yorkers.
We see both sides taking a hard line against each other.
We see both sides having room to talk with each other rather than to talk
at each other. Both sides have valid points.
To you, the Transport Workers Union and to you, the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority, we say, “Sit at that table and
get the job done”.
We trust that both sides can do that and while saying
so we think that both are too tied into a determination that will not work
for either and is at the expense of New Yorkers, our economy and our future.
That attitude to New Yorkers is unacceptable. We say,
“Sit at that table and talk with each other rather than at each other. We
trust that together you can do it.”
Other government workers have not walked off the job.
Rather, they have kept the City functioning while their leaders negotiated
the best possible deal. By doing so, the respect of the citizens was kept
intact.
We believe that compromise is the best way to go. To date,
we have not seen either side go to the limit in the name of compromise.
We urge our members and other citizens not only from
New York City, but also from the New York City suburbs, New Jersey, southern
Connecticut and northeast Pennsylvania to email Transport Workers Union Local
100 and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and urge them to both sit
at that table and talk with each other not at each other.
To the Transport Workers Union and the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority, we say, “All depends on you both being honest
with each other and being honest with us, the people who depend on you.”
THE COMPROMISE: The Strike is Over
The New York City Transit Strike of 2005 is over. Both sides
return to the table, trains and buses again carry commuters and hopefully our City's
economy will be able to benefit from normalcy.
Asemblance of normalcy will especially help those who, if they were
not able to get to their jobs, wouldn't get paid. They number in the many thousands and
are an important party of our City's economy. We are New Yorkers.
While we can't and won't claim credit for the two sides returning to the
table, we are extremely happy to see that not only is this a reality but also that the majority
of the citizenry agreed with our position on this issue. Another political party in New York
preferred to divide, we felt othewise.
Neither the Metropolitan Transportation Authority nor the Transport Workers Union
are perfect. Both have valid points. That being said, common sense says to sit down, continue to talk
and continue to make sure that our City and people who live in parts of four states that surround
New York City will function as normally as possible.
We at the Liberal Party of New York fully support both sides' efforts to come to
a compromise that is not only acceptable to both sides, but is also acceptable to the people of
New York City and the people in parts of four states that depend on our City for their well-being.
Compromise is "The Way To Go".
- Editors, Liberal Party of New York
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