NY Transport Workers Demands

What a bunch of dipsticks.

The New York transit strike couldn't be more ill timed or ill advised. Is it really any wonder that the modern labor movement is shrinking? I havn't felt so bad for big labor since the baseball strike of the mid-90s. I'm not sure I've seen a baseball game since then either.

Their demands read more like a letter to Santa. They now contribute not a cent to their health care (know anybody with this perk?) and are rejecting the MTA's "outrageous request" that they contribute a whopping 1% (Yes, you read that right: one percent) to their health care. They want the retirement age lowered to 50. (You'd have to say that's moving in the opposite direction from the rest of the civilized world, no?) and they want to put a cap on how much discipline the MTA can mete out to its members. Right. Can't imagine anybody would mind the MTA looking the other way for the last half year -- after hitting their TWU quota -- for train operators driving too fast, or under the influence of alcohol, whatever. What the heck, they can always get 'em early next year, before the quota is hit, right? They also asked for hefty salary increases when the average train driver's pay alone is $63,000, as compared to the average salary for the average joe in New York at $45,000.

Pat Cleary at Redstate has the score.