Hosanna

Over the past three days I have walked no less than 320 blocks, which is 5 trips to and from work (minus 30 blocks in a van this morning) which does not include the 70 blocks for tonight. From where I am sitting this strike struck out and the TWU realizes it overplayed its hand, lost the support of regular New Yorkers, and earned the ire of the the state and the courts. And rightly so, if you ask me (which you did by reading my website).

The union revealed itself to be unreasonable and unrealistic by letting the issue of retirement and pensions muck up the whole negotiations. MTA employees under the just-expired contract are eligible for retirement at age 55. Who retires at 55? No one. So the MTA said, sure you can retire at 55, but you have to help us pay for the 10 extra years you get to enjoy your RV while we continue to slave away at work.

Majority employer-funded pensions can’t work anymore, because frankly people don’t die fast enough anymore. It’s time for everyone to take some responsibility for their own retirement through investments, more contributions to employer programs, etc. It is hard, but it’s better than the alternative, which is higher taxes for everyone and lower take-home pay in the end.