NEW YORK (AP) -- As a strike date looms, the city transit authority has an extra billion dollars in its coffers that is complicating efforts to convince New Yorkers they can't afford to give subway and bus workers raises.þþThe Transport Workers Union -- whose members are poised to walk out at midnight Thursday when the current contract expires -- argues that its more than 33,000 members should enjoy a portion of the unexpected surplus.þþ''Workers believe the system can pay them more and they expect that,'' said Joshua Freeman, a labor historian at the City University of New York Graduate Center and an expert on the transit union.þþIf transit workers go on strike, the subways and buses that shuttle more than 7 million people throughout New York City each day could grind to a halt. City officials say it could cost the city $200 million per day.þþNegotiations continued Monday night. MTA lawyers sought an injunction to avoid a strike, and were due in court Tuesday. A strike would be illegal under state law and workers could face hefty fines for walking off the job.þþThe Metropolitan Transportation Authority says its windfall is a one-time surprise from unexpectedly high proceeds from real estate taxes and unusually low interest rates. It also predicts that it will be followed by deficits that could reach $1 billion by 2009.þþMayor Michael Bloomberg went so far as to characterize the extra money as ''mythical'' because he says most of the money is essentially tied up.þþ''Anybody that says the MTA's got a surplus -- that's just not true,'' Bloomberg said on his radio show Friday. ''All this is going to do is cover some of their expenses for next year.''þþThe MTA has proposed a 3 percent raise in the first year and a conditional raise of 2 percent the second year. It is also asking for givebacks on pensions and health coverage. For example, it wants new employees to pay 2 percent of their earnings toward health care.þþThe union is demanding 8 percent raises, saying the 3 percent is a starting point. President Roger Toussaint said the other aspects of the MTA's offer ''insult'' the workers who run the city's subways and buses.þþThe last time New York transit workers walked off the job was in April of 1980. For 11 days, subways and buses sat motionless while New Yorkers devised new ways to get around. Some rode bikes, others walked, while others used more creative methods such as boats, private helicopters and roller skates.þþThe strike would be the second transit strike in a major U.S. city in as many months. Philadelphia transit workers approved a new contract in early November, after a strike that lasted for a week. þþ
Source: NY Times
