US - NYC to seek restraining order against strikers

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NYC to seek restraining

order against strikers

Transit workers' walkout

entering third day

Thursday, December 22, 2005; Posted: 2:52 a.m. EST

(07:52 GMT)

 

NEW YORK (CNN) -- More legal

wrangling was expected Thursday in the New York transit strike after Mayor

Michael Bloomberg said the city would request a temporary restraining order

against union workers over the work stoppage.

Bloomberg said the city would file a lawsuit Thursday

morning, and State Justice Theodore Jones planned to hear it at 11 a.m. at Kings County Supreme Court in Brooklyn. The Metropolitan

Transit Authority also has sought an injunction against Workers Union Local

100.

On Wednesday, Bloomberg described the union action as the

" illegal selfish strike of 2005. " The strike is costing the union $1

million a day in fines levied against it by the state Supreme Court on Tuesday.

More than 30,000 New

York City transit workers went on

strike early Tuesday, shutting down the nation's largest public

transportation system and creating nightmares for commuters.

The head of the striking transit union emphasized again

Wednesday that he wants the issue of pensions taken off the table so talks with

the MTA can

resume.

" That would go a long way to us resuming the

negotiations, " Roger Toussaint told reporters. " We believe that the

pension demands put forth by the MTA are illegal, and burden the negotiations. "

In response, MTA president Peter Kalikow said in a written statement Wednesday

night: " The MTA has remained in the hotel since the strike commenced, ready to

negotiate. In light of Mr. Toussaint's intentional distortion of the facts surrounding these

negotiations -- in his outrageous demand that the MTA remove the pension

issue from the table before his members could return to work -- it is becoming

clear that we are rapidly approaching the point where further waiting would be

futile. "

" While Mr. Toussaint has little respect for the letter

or spirit of the laws of this state, I strongly urge him to reconsider his position,

quite simply he should follow the law and pursue his demands either at the

bargaining table or in arbitration, not in the streets. "

Union members are seeking raises, improved health plans and

a stronger pension fund, which faces a $1 billion shortfall, according to its

leaders.

Under an MTA proposal, new employees would contribute 6 percent of their

salaries to their pension funds, instead of the current 2 percent. The MTA withdrew a proposal to

increase the retirement age from 55 to 62.

On Tuesday, New

York's Public

Employment Relations Board, acting as a mediator, denied a union request to

remove the pension issue, a spokesman for the MTA told CNN.

Toussaint also said the union opposes arbitration as a

possible way to end the strike.

The strike violates New

York's Taylor

Law, which forbids public employees to walk off the job, but Toussaint argued,

" We have pointed out that there is a higher calling than the law, and that's justice and

equality. "

Bloomberg accused the union of " claiming to be the

champions of working families, " while the " illegal actions they are taking are costing New Yorkers

their livelihoods. "

The mayor has said that the economic consequences of the

strike, which coincides with the height of holiday shopping and tourist season,

range " from severe to devastating, depending on the business. " (Find

out how tourists are coping)

In Albany, Gov. George Pataki jumped into the fray, repeating that union

workers should return to their posts first, and negotiate contract terms

second.

When the top three TWU executives failed to show up for

court Wednesday, Jones threatened that jail time for them was possible, and

refused to proceed until the defendants were present.

Michael Cardozo, head of the city's corporation council,

said striking workers will lose three days of pay for every day they are not at

work, instead of the original penalty of a two-day pay loss imposed by the

city.

One issue leading to the strike was an MTA-proposed contract

calling for new employees to pay more for their health coverage than current

employees.

Negotiators reported some progress on wage negotiations

before talks collapsed early Tuesday. An MTA offer Monday night,

rejected by the union, included a three-year contract with wage increases of up

to 4 percent a year.

Transport Workers Union International President Michael O'Brien issued a statement

on the union's Web site urging all members of Local 100 to stop the strike, as

ordered by the New York Supreme Court.

O'Brien added that his " refusal to sanction this strike "

should not be construed as a lessening of " my resolve to secure the best

possible contract for this membership. "

Patience

wearing thin

The strike on the nation's largest public

transportation system has forced millions of people to adopt creative ways of

getting around -- or simply abandon plans altogether. (Read the

latest commuters' e-mails)

Wednesday's cover of the New York Post captured a popular sentiment:

" You Rats. "

For a second day, traffic clogged all of Manhattan's inbound bridges and tunnels despite a city mandate that cars

entering Manhattan and traveling below 96th

Street carry no fewer than four

people. Also, schools started two hours late for a second day.

The transit strike is the first in the city since 1980. (A

map for the transit strike)

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/22/nyc.transit/index.html

 

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