Second Ave. Sagas

‘Slowdown’ on tap as labor talks resume

Written by

Benjamin Kabak

in

,

This morning, it took my 4 train a whopping ten minutes to go from 14th St. to 42nd St., and as the announcements kept blaring about “train traffic ahead of us,” my mind wandered to this Daily News article. In the wake of a series of gruesome deaths a few weeks ago, the TWU has told its train drivers to “use extra care” when entering stations due to safety concerns. It’s a perfectly legal move employed during labor negotiations that tend to drive straphangers nuts.

Meanwhile, after two weeks of stewing over “bad faith negotiations” brought about when the TWU objected to an apparent leak of the MTA’s demands, the two sides will resume formal talks on Thursday. While the TWU’s outrage over the MTA’s supposed negotiating tactics has stalled forward progress, MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota says that he and TWU president John Samuelsen have maintained an open line of communication over the past few weeks. A deal though is still not on the horizon, but neither is a strike.

For a full glimpse at the MTA’s demands, check out this pdf. They range from benefit reductions to operational improvements, but OPTO, sadly, is not among them.

Comments

22 responses to “‘Slowdown’ on tap as labor talks resume”

  1. unionJack

    time to show who’s really in charge!

    Reply
  2. Todd

    UnionJack, who exactly are you showing? Your paying customers who depend on you to do your job like you’re supposed to do? This is not moral, ethical, or responsible. You (and your union) should be ashamed of yourselves.

    Reply
    1. nycpat

      He is a troll. He is not a transit worker.

      Reply
      1. unionJack

        i’m getting sick of your baseless accusations. enough already.

        Reply
      2. Alon Levy

        Yeah, I was wondering about that. In Israel they have paid commenters and in the US they have some paid anti-union scandalmongers, but usually it’s not just one person by one name, but a lot of nicknames writing the same repetitive stuff. UnionJack may be a nut more than a shill.

        Reply
        1. Bolwerk

          A shill would probably be able to pull off some at least hamfisted propaganda if not middlebrow commentary. He’s a troll, and not an altogether successful one since even his intended targets busted him in about no time. But then, in my 20+ years playing with the Internet t00bs, I’ve found most trolls are too unimaginative to deviate believably from their schtick.

          Stay in school, UnionJack.

          Reply
  3. SEAN

    When I first saw the title, my reaction was what delay is it this time with the new Tapan Zee Bridge construction & not with the TWU.

    Reply
  4. John

    Tonight while coming back from class, my 4 train went maddeningly slow between 125 and 86. A 5 definitely wasn’t in front of it, because I waited almost 10 minutes at 125 with nothing showing up. During the crawl, the train was incessantly honking its horn. Maybe there were crews on the track, or maybe it was the sound of the union beginning to roar. I guess I’ll never really know.

    Reply
  5. Spendmore Wastemore

    Accidents?
    I haven’t seen news of any special accidents; just the usual “due to investigation, X trains are delayed” followed about 10 minutes later by “X service has resumed after an earlier incident”.

    Whatever happens in these incidents never seems to make the news. There must be a policy of not publicizing these incidents and press co-operation in not reporting them.

    Reply
    1. Tsuyoshi

      That is exactly the policy they’re following. Most of the “investigations” are suicides. They don’t want to encourage copycat suicides.

      Reply
      1. petey

        thanks for mentioning that, twice in the past two months or so there’s been major disruption while i’ve been on the lex and no mention of it on the news.

        Reply
    2. nycpat

      No more accidents when the military runs the subways. Right spendmore? Teach those swine a lesson.

      Reply
      1. Spendmore Wastemore

        Well… in all seriousness they probably have it right. Publicity would not be a good thing; although it does feel like ‘hey what are they hiding’ it is something that needs to be handled quietly for the reason Tsuyoshi gives.

        I’m not aware of what proportion are accidents – someone falls, trips etc – and how many are not. Maybe I don’t really need to know, certainly not at the cost of encouraging a suicide.

        Reply
    3. Noah

      Four people were struck by trains in one day about a week and a half ago. While people being hit by trains isn’t too uncommon, four in one day apparently is.

      Reply
  6. Kevin Li

    Antics like this will only enrage the public.

    Reply
    1. nycpat

      Public already hates us. I’m cursed out every day.

      Reply
      1. Bolwerk

        That sucks, but I guess it’s no surprise. The MTA is intended to be a whipping boy. Pity people aren’t smart enough to blame the pols for this mess.

        Reply
      2. Al D

        It’s a bad cycle that needs to be broken. I’ve found some MTA employees recalcitrant and repugnant honestly. No good especially in ‘public-facing’ roles. On the other hand, I’ve encountered some employees who were genuinely helpful and accommodating.

        Public perception of the entire MTA (and most people can’t or don’t necessarily distinguish between union and non-union employees) is terrible. 1 solution is for the MTA and TWU to get together and basically form a charm offensive committee, a PR campaign aimed at improving everyone’s image.

        Reply
  7. al

    OPTO may be problematic during peak hrs as they add several seconds to the dwell time at stations with the platform opposite of the motorman. That in turn cuts line capacity. The Canarsie Line has this issue at several high dwell time bottleneck stations. It also increases the terminal to terminal run time a bit. The delay is more acceptable during off peak hrs, but not when it cuts the number of trains that can run during AM peak.

    As to other cost cutting proposals:
    Proposal #18: eliminate restrictions on express bus swing runs.

    This makes me wonder why the MTA couldn’t run an express service to the LGA with equipment and manpower available during the the midday and evening hrs. During rush hr, congestion makes bus and subway/rail service attractive to taxis stuck in traffic. Express runs between the airport and transit and business hubs during less congested time give the MTA an attractive option vs taxis and cars.

    Proposal #19: split run for T/O and Conductors.

    Couldn’t we give these people some light but necessary work to do:

    Roving physical infrastructure inspectors. With clipboard, Polaroid instant film and digital cameras in hand, they could document the decaying system frequently.

    Track/platform flag men during midday work.

    Move around the system in roving groups of 3-4 watching turnstiles for fare jumpers, and for truants, litterers, vandals, criminals, terrorists, etc.

    Bolster the number of crews that rove around the system to safely retrieve items people drop onto the track.

    They could be light station and rail car maintenance and upkeep personnel. Changing light bulbs in easy to change areas, touching up the paint within pole reach, placing/replacing plastic film that protect glass, etc.

    Reply
    1. Al D

      they don’t make Polaroids anymore

      Reply
      1. al

        You can still buy them online, and there are other instant film brands out there. Check it out.

        Reply
  8. Al D

    Some of the points seem legit to me, others are true gimmes (just in there for negotiation purposes), whilst others, like using the NYT as a basis in fact, kind of defeat themselves for this very reason. Some I don’t get as transit jargon, but I will say that if true on the health benefits contribution, OT calculation and what appears to be a very generuous time and leave policy that union employees really have it better than most anyone else in the working world.

    Reply

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