New York's Grinch and His Reporter

by Nicholas Stix As of 3 a.m. Tuesday morning, New York city's first transit workers strike in 25 years is officially on! * * * What would you call someone who would destroy the Christmas of a city of eight million people, plus a few sundry million suburban commuters and shoppers, if the state authority that pays his members does not roll over for his "negotiation" demands, and sign a contract that would eventually bankrupt the city and state? The Grinch is better known as Roger Toussaint, the president of the Transport Workers Union (TWU), which represents all city subway workers and bus drivers, 34,000 in all. Toussaint, who leads the city's most militant union, had demanded raises of eight percent for each of the next three years, and to permit workers to retire at the age of 50 with a full pension. (Transit workers currently qualify for pensions at age 55.) The Metropolitan Transit Authority, the state agency that pays TWU workers on behalf of the citizens of the State of New York, offered raises of three, three, and three percent , but demanded that union workers stay on the job until they reach the age of 62, that all new employees contribute two percent of their wages towards their health insurance, something they never previously had to do, and that all current employees pay higher co-payments for dcotor's visits and prescriptions. TWU members speak of a supposed $1B MTA "surplus." But another four years down the road, the agency is projected to have at least a $1B deficit. The agency has not maintained infrastructure in recent years, and the current $2 subway and bus fare is in jeopardy of being raised yet again. The TWU is supported by other municipal unions -- the United Federation of Teachers, Patrolman's Benevolent Association, 1199SEIU, and even by a livery drivers' union, United Drivers of America, though the latter group has little control over New York livery drivers. (The livery driver's union head said that his drivers would not pitch in to help stranded riders, but it is unlikely he can enforce his vicious policy.) The MTA's Metro North workers, who serve suburban commuters north of the city in Rockland and Westchester counties, among other destinations, promised to engage in a sympathy strike. The source of the other unions' solidarity is no mystery: If the MTA blinks, they will demand contracts every bit as generous. When John Lindsay gave in to similarly exorbitant union demands 40 years ago -- then speaheaded by the Sanitation Workers' Union -- it eventually bankrupted the city, which ultimately fell under the financial control of the State of New York. Roger Toussaint does not give a hang about bankrupting the city and the state. And he has a special helper. WABC-TV reporter Nina Pineda has exposed herself as a shill for Toussaint. In tonight's delayed 11 p.m. broadcast, following Monday Night Football, at 12:26 a.m., Pineda said, "As [fellow reporter N.J. Burkett] said, this was never about money. This was about dignity and respect. "Rallyers ask the public to choose sides.... ""They want health benefits. They want a raise. And they want to secure these things for future generations.... "[Toussaint] was upset when Gov. Pataki waved his finger at workers like they were children." When people say "It isn't about money," it's always about money. At 1:05 a.m., Pineda was back, as her station, city-dwellers, and suburban commuters, all waited for Toussaint to stop torturing us and tell us if he would call a strike for the morning. Now she spoke not of "Toussaint," but simply of "the President," as if Roger Toussaint were the occupant of the White House. In my 47 years, I have never heard a reporter refer to a union chief simply as "the President." Gov. George Pataki hadn't wagged his fingers at the union; he had simply reminded Roger Toussaint that it is illegal for them to strike. New York's Taylor Law makes it illegal for any public workers to strike. That reminder that Toussaint would be committing a crime, is what "upset" him. Pineda neglected to inform her viewers as to the Governor's concern, or to so much as mention the fact that a strike would be illegal, and would result in millions of dollars of fines being imposed on workers. Pineda spoke of "the President" in statesman-like terms, saying that he is concerned that he not harm unions anywhere else in the country. Roger Toussaint is acting like the sort of communist union head one customarily sees somewhere like France or Italy, and Nina Pineda is acting like his personal flack, the taxpayers and paying riders be damned. (For those whose response is that the workers are also taxpayers, public employees do not contribute to the tax base; they only take from it. The tax base derives entirely from the private sector.) Contrast Pineda's work with that of reporter Dean Meminger at NY1, a usually far-left cable station that one wag dubbed "the All-Sharpton News Network." Meminger talked about the TWU's constant changes of notification, saying now that they would come down to speak in five minutes, and now in 15. "A terrible situation for people who have to get to work early this morning." NY1 also gave vent to angry commuters. It looks like Christmas has been cancelled this year for New York's taxpayers and transit riders. But a certain union head and a certain adoring reporter have much to celebrate.