Loyalty and Honesty

At Center of City's Transit Talks, a Trend That Tests Union Loyalty to Future Hires - New York Times: "In articulating that message, Mr. Toussaint is being loyal to a fundamental aspect of labor solidarity: You don't sell out other workers to make life easier for yourself.

'We believe that future generations of transit workers should be better off than us, just as we are better off than past generations of transit workers,' he said.

Mr. Toussaint also realizes that assenting to a two-tier contract can create huge internal feuding in 5, 10, 15 years.

'Accepting a two-tier contract may be a short-term expedient, but it creates problems for the union in the long term,' said Richard W. Hurd, a labor relations professor at Cornell University. 'They end up with members working side by side with different benefits. It creates some tensions, and the workers in the lower tier are always pushing for parity.'"

You know, I hate both the MTA and TWU Local 100 for doing this to our city. But if I have to take sides, I agree with the TWU Local 100 more than the MTA. The MTA is totally mismanaged and everyone in the city pays the price for it, be they transit workers, or passengers. I pay higher fares, and workes get shit-on by management.

I really think that striking is the worst thing that the TWU Local 100 could do, though. It won't hurt people like me. I can telecommute. I won't miss meals. But the folks out in Fo' Hi', East New York, Sheepshead Bay, Flushing, the South Bronx and so on won't be able to get to their minimum wage jobs and will ultimately be the ones most hurt by all this. That and small business owners in the city center too.

Mr Tuissant is totally right though. We work toward better conditions for future generations, not for the simple survival of this one. When you take the attitude that your present is worth more than your future, you've turned your back on hope and optimism. The MTA wants us to believe that things will never be better . . . and if the TWU100 takes this offer, they won't get better.