New York City Transport Workers Union Strikes Again
11th August 2010
In July Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the shut down of 32 bus routes around the city, to the inconvenience of thousands of New Yorkers. Those same cuts eliminated the jobs of about 500 drivers and mechanics who are members of the Transport Workers Union (TWU). Its distress was compounded, because simultaneously with the cuts, the mayor announced that as of Aug. 15, 2010, the City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), headed by David Yassky, would allow private van services to pick up passengers along the routes on which public bus service has been eliminated.
On July 28, 2010, TWU’s President John Samuelsen sued in Manhattan state court to force Yassky and the TLC to block these private carriers from entering into service, in order to pressure the City to restore the cuts. His motives are clear: “This is an effort to replace solid jobs that come with medical and pension benefits … with low-paid, non-unionized workforce without medical or pension benefits. Any politician that supports this is basically supporting an unprovoked attack against the TWU.”
Well, yeah. The problem is that the Union is too expensive but has a lot of political power (‘He who robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.’) and so this is the only politically feasible way to cut costs. The basic Union position is that, either you use overpriced Union labor for this service, or the public can walk for all they care. And that tells you pretty much all you need to know about public-sector unions.