Liberal Talk Radio

Thank God it appears that transit workers are going to return to work while its union and the MTA continue to negotiate. That said, I’m finding it hard to believe how cocooned some people are about this strike:

I’ve been pretty surprised and somewhat disappointed by the hostility among some here to the striking transit workers in New York City. To be fair, the strike is illegal. It is unfortunately timed. It is incredibly hard on other workers in the city. However, is it wrong? Obviously, I don’t think so. The Taylor Law, which makes strikes by public employees illegal, is a poor piece of legislation. I’m not against certain limits on strikes by public employees, but striking is quite frankly the only power labor unions have.

In speaking to a few people who actually live in the city and are dealing with this strike, I’ve been equally surprised and somewhat relieved at the level of support — obviously somewhat tempered by sore feet and cold appendages — for the striking Transport Workers Union. One could easily chalk that up to me knowing a higher-than-average number of pro-labor New Yorkers. That was my first thought. But it seems that the support for the strike is much more widespread than I expected.

As “proof,” a self-selected online poll conducted by a local radio station. As more proof, a WABC TV/SurveyUSA poll showing that 52% of New Yorkers are on the side of the union vs. 40% for the MTA management. Except that if you go to SurveyUSA’s site, those numbers have changed to 46% on the side of the management vs. 44% for the union. What’s more, when asked whether the union should have gone on strike, 64% said they should not have vs. 31% who said that they should have.

So then of course all this gets translated to something along the lines of what we noticed yesterday — general support of the strike because you generally support unions:

Not being plugged into the local media scene it’s taken me a litle while to think I had any kind of handle on the NY transit strike.

But, now I’m aware of two things:

a) Majority of New Yorkers support the union/strike

b) That view is entirely lacking from the media coverage I’ve seen.

A majority of New Yorkers support the union/strike? I’d sure like to meet some of these people.

Like I said before, don’t take out your frustration with Wal-Mart on New York City’s working classes. It’s not enough to support TWU just because they pay union dues — that blind solidarity is probably worse for the union movement in the long run. Short of that, just keep telling yourself it’s not true and hope for the best.