Is Democratic blanket support for unions a good thing?

Today thousands of people that have no other choice but to use public transportation will be negatively affected due to the New York transportation strike. Poor workers struggling to get by the holidays, grandparents and sick individuals who have doctors appointments or need prescriptions, retailers who need customers or they go out of business. My definition of being a liberal is for caring and taking care of those that need it. Not make them suffer my my own benefit, to put the burden on their backs so my life and finances will be better.
In manufacturing I can justify striking for better wages and benefits but when it comes to unions with workers responsible for public safety and transportation there should be other options that do not negatively affect the less fortunate or put the public's safety at risk.

Letting the public ride for free so the city collects no revenue seems like a better option to me.

Letting the unions take liberals and democrats for granted so they can screw the "little man" over shouldn't be an option for them or they should be warned of losing our support.

Strap yourself in, you have a wild ride ahead of you.

One of the big problems our society has had to face is the fact that big business and the republicans have been trying to bust unions since the 1980s. Overall, this has been a successful endeavor for them.

Granted it is a hardship for all affected by the MTA strike, however, if the strike is successful, it could mark a resurgence for the labor union movement.

One key ingreedint in any public transit strike is public support, and I don't think the union has it in this case.

keep your lawyer girlfriend home and stop bitching!

I'd just like to clarify my point. When it comes to the public's safety and well being, selfishness and greed should come last. There are plenty of other unionized industries that can put up the fight for American workers rights but rights do no good when a 65 year old woman has to walk in 20 degree cold to the doctor or firemen and police let crime and fires burn freely when they strike. There are other effective and more civil forms of protest if they use new ideas, imagination and quit being so lazy using the only option they've been trained to use.

governor, whoever and demand they pay the workers a decent wage and benefits. It might be better for her in the long run to have skilled, satisfied workers to tend to her needs and safety. No service worker is overpaid in my humble opinion.

workers, legal aid lawyers, teachers, some cops and firefighters.

To want a fair contract is a civil right. If it is truly about public safety court orders are available. I worked for the railroad and was ordered back off of strike by the President because of the public good. In that case mediators were then brought in to resolve the dispute. I find it quite disingenuous that you attack the little guy, the worker, and don't call for the heads of management and the Mayor. It is their responsibility, they are on the public payroll to do a job also. In times of civil disobedience for a cause there is a price to be paid. Who do you think supports the social security and medicare system that allows that 65 year old woman to go to the doctor in the first place? Most likely if it weren't for the Unions and the social supports they have fought for, she would be dead already. Do you even realize how many Union workers and organizers have been punished and even killed over the years to fight for things you take for granted today?

hurting the people of this city.

And, if you really think that $25/hour to sit in a fucking fare booth is horribly unfair . . .

They maintain that the city is removing items from their agreement. They are fighting for their rights, something every worker is entitled to.

all workers should have the right to organize and strike.

were this fifty years ago -- the public would be on the side of the workers.

but because of irrational propaganda from pro-business anti-union freaks -- we think those days are over.

You expect something else from the source of that propaganda?

They are striking against every single New Yorker--not corporate plutocrats.

Corporate plutocrats are unaffected by this strike. The working poor, delivery people, etc etc are the ones who are really hurt by the MTA's intransigence and the TWU's greed.

And these workers make way more than their job skill level would ordinarily indicate.

But you're full of sympathy for the working poor of NYC.

Yeah, right.

Relatively, the TWU workers have it pretty good. Guaranteed job at a decent wage for doing work that requires very little education or prior training.

And how many of them are highly educated folks who sit at desks all day?

The kind that take two buses and a subway to get to their shitty jobs that they're desperate to keep.

But, the TWU doesn't care about those kinds of folks.

:popcorn: :hi:

The workers are not "screwing the little man" over. They are using their only remaining power to get some fairness from a powerful employer.

A union's only bargaining power comes from its collective ability to stop work and make the employer pay attention. If you take away that ultimate last resort, they have nothing and they get screwed like the rest of us non-union workers.

Yes, we should support unions and show solidarity with them. By doing so we stand up for fair labor practices and fair pay.

Really? What's wrong with not collecting revenue for the city? Letting the public ride free in protest?
It may sound like I'm against unions but I'm not. Just saying things have changed since fifty years ago. Using the same play book just means laziness and no imagination.

It allows for a strike, but it might not allow for giving the public free rides. I don't know, but the MTA might have the right to fire workers who fail to collect the fees from riders.

Your idea about free rides is not a bad one, but I'll bet as of right now it would be considered a breach of the agreement.

matter what the sector are people too.

I've watched governments be as ruthless to workers as giant corporations.

The transit workers in NYC have my full support without question.

the same world where someone who doesn't have a job might not make it to an interview or miss their first day of work because someone with a job wants more money and benefits.

Thanks for all your thoughts and inputs so far. I'll check back in later and please remember friends, let's not just give the unions and our democratic leaders a free pass all the time. They need to remember they are supposed to look after us, not us them and they need to be accountable.

the union is not charged with the responsibility of being accountable to the citizens of NYC, that accountability rests fully on the back of the MTA.

to the public. Transit workers have an inherent responsiblity to look after the public welfare.

A responsibility they don't take very seriously.

to look after the public welfare not the workers.

The Union Workers are not making any outrageous demands. The Transit Authority has not made a good faith effort to settle this. Blame them for the inconvenience not the poor slobs working for a living.

all the time." Even someone who hasn't been here long should realize there are plenty of threads at DU criticizing "our Democratic leaders." Mostly, not for being too radical--but for being too timid.

I support Unions & Unionism in general.

Your suggestions will be given due consideration.

though I don't think small businesses should have to fall under organizing, but the major corporations' workers should be able to as well as the bus system. Too much slippage in American wages has occured in the never ending quest for the lowest possible wage costs. Low wages affects purchasing power and affects the economy overall.

Screw big business * and the government.
* and the teamsters, but they don't count. They just haven't been caught yet!

membership numbers to less than half what they were 40 years ago. With continued Dem support, they should be completely irrelevant in another 20, if they aren't already. With friends like these who needs enemies, certainly not the corporatists, they know who their friends are.

I don't know what the base pay is for transit workers.

I know they were offered 6% pay raises each year for 3 years and that new hires would have a retirement age of 62 instead of 55 and that was a sticking point.

for Unions.

Union members are our brothers. Many people fought and died for the right to organize.

Organized labor is the only power that can rival organized capital.

There hasnt' been a strike in 25 years. The union took 0% raises (negative raises after inflation) in past years.

no revenue seems like a better option to me."

I know of some bus drivers that were doing that over the weekend.

Not all unions are created equal. Some are havens for criminal activity.

end up watching hopes and dreams of poor people everywhere dwindle until it breaks their spirit. Poor people are the ones who need the right to organize. Do you think CEO's of major corporations should make 50 times what the rest of the company makes? Why are you placing blame on the unions and/or the workers when it's the fault of greedy employers who want nothing more than giant profits for all the while stiffing their employees? That's wrong and should be fought.

as long as we are not inconvenienced. That is the essence of organized labor, bringing societal forces to play in the arena of worker rights and benefits. Don't you think the coal strikes of 100 years ago were a huge deal? Fair weather support of labor is no support at all. It is when times get tough that support counts.

If you like the 5 day work week, 40 hour week, vacations, sick leave and other benefits, thank unions and thank those that walked picket lines, that suffered no income for months. We owe them our gratitude, and I would suggest that if things are to improve, organized labor will have to be center stage.

:patriot:

these guys were in DC marching against the war. Diss them now at your own peril

If the party leaves them behind, it might as well follow Holly Joe wherever the hell he's going. It's the billionaires vs the people. Choose, damn it!