Fair vs. Fare

With the pending, threatened strike by New York City Transit workers hours away and seemingly little agreement between the MTA & the Union, I believe a "cooling off period" is mandatory. During this "cooling off period" I believe what is called for is a fact finding mission by a third party - one who can present the various issues to all parties. This would include:

1. The MTA's financial data whereby they claim deficit numbers and inability to meet the raise requests of the Union. It has been stated that neither the State of City comptrollers have seen this data, the financial "watch dogs" of New York.

2. The Union's data that they are the most sternly sanctioned, underpaid Union workers with fewer medical benefits than compared to other metropolitan transit systems.

Apparently the Union & the MTA are so far apart on these issues there is little chance of finding middle ground. The Union says, "3%" and the MTA responds, "0%". While you can't negotiate from zero, you further complicate the issue when the MTA won't divulge its financial data. This "hard ball" stance of the MTA is just as dangerous as a Union strike and both sides should be responsible.

While the Mayor & the Governor are taking this time to remind us all that a strike is illegal and that stiff penalties will be imposed on the Union if the proceed, I believe the focus should be on forcing the two sides to make full disclosure. If is is proven that the MTA is under water, then there will undoubtedly be a fare hike, paving the way to meet the Union's request to be compensated inline with national averages. And while this fare hike is most likely in our future it is not a solution to the the inability of these to groups to meet on common ground.

For that to happen, a fair system of disclosure, offering and acceptance must be put in place. This won't happen when you have an agency withholding information and a union banned from work stoppage. In the event that we as New Yorkers are forced to deal without a mass transit system, the city's contingency plans can be found here: New York City Transit Information Center.