Updating this earlier story: The Daily News is reporting that the temporary injunction barring the MTA from dismissing 475 station agents today will remain in place through the weekend. Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Alice Schlesinger heard arguments late last night and issued the TRO, but Justice Saliann Scarpulla declined to hear further arguments in the case today. The legal proceedings are expected to resume on Monday or Tuesday. In the meantime, the station agents will stay on the job, and union heads will continue to present spurious arguments concerning safety or stimulus funding. (To which I respond, wouldn’t the MTA use stimulus funding to stave off service cuts before it rolls back agent dismissal? After all, the authority is in the business of transit service.) There is no word on how much this injunction is costing the MTA, but agents will continue to draw their salaries until at least next week.
Station agent injunction to last the weekend
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4 comments
This seems an odd occasion to award an injunction; after all, it doesn’t seem like there’s substantial likelihood of success and certainly the harm would be easily repaired by re-hiring the agents and ordering backpay… I know that these folks would be out of a job in the meanwhile (and I’m sympathetic, I have my doubts about this idea), but wrongful discharge cases proceed every day without injunctions like this.
Conversely, if the court finds in the MTA’s favor, who is going to reimburse the MTA for its lost $600,000 per week for the duration of the injunction?
And what happens to those station agents who already found other jobs or had travel plans? Were they required to go back to the job that they thought no longer existed? I’m sure not all of them were planning on staying home and moping.
Legal fees alone must be piling up because of this.
But injunctions have been awarded for more bizarre things than this…remember the 1988 NHL Playoffs. A Devils coach was (falsely) accused of pushing a referee; the coach was suspended for the following playoff game; the General Manager sought out a judge buddy of his, who issued an injunction keeping the coach behind the bench. (The refs subsequently boycotted the game, which was officiated by amateurs)
“After all, the authority is in the business of transit service”
actually, the authority is in the business providing unnecessary and overcompensated jobs. and inflated lifetime pensions. at least, that’s what the TWU tells me