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New York passes a difficult test with ‘flying colours’
AFP from New York
12/25/2005
The strike by New York transit workers that ended their crippling strike last Thursday was a crippling blow to the city businesses that suffered huge financial losses. Millions of commuters endured three days of frustration.
The Transport Workers Union executive voted to end the stoppage and to resume negotiations with the transit system management even without securing a new contract.
Facing the threat of jail for what has been ruled an illegal strike, union leaders dropped a demand that authorities scrap proposed changes to pension benefits.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the vast transit network "can't be turned on or off with a flip of the switch."
New York had passed a difficult test with "flying colours" but Bloomberg told reporters the strike had taken a financial toll on the city.
"It wasn't easy. Certainly serious economic harm was inflicted. But we did what we had to do to keep the city running and running safely," Bloomberg said.
"There's a reason why it's illegal for public employees to strike in New York. It doesn't just negatively impact our economy. It threatens the health and safety of every single New Yorker," said New York state governor George Pataki on the Fox News television channel.
The news about ending of the strike was greeted with relief by commuters, who have braved below-freezing temperatures and choked roads as they struggled to work this week on foot, bicycles, skateboard and other novel means of transport.
City authorities have estimated the strike has cost New York almost one billion dollars, with shops, theatres and restaurants deprived of annual Christmas holiday business.
The strike cost about $400 million on the first day and about $300 million on each successive day, city authorities said.
The city's blood bank also suffered because of the strike, with authorities urging people to donate to bolster supplies of blood.
The only serious injury related to the strike reported so far was an offduty firefighter who was in grave condition after being struck by a bus as he rode his bicycle to work, Bloomberg said.
Governor Pataki said the announcement was "very positive for all New Yorkers," saying the stoppage had caused "an enormous inconvenience and hardship" on people.
New York authorities had insisted there could be no talks until the strike ended and they prevailed.
The TWU originally had demanded that changes to the pension rights of nearly 34,000 subway and bus workers be withdrawn but backed off as the stakes rose.
By Thursday afternoon, with hefty fines piling up and a judge due to consider possible jail time for union leaders, the TWU chose to call off the strike and resume talks.
Judge Theodore Jones had ordered New York union leader Roger Toussaint and two of his deputies to appear before him on Thursday and said jail was a serious possibility if they did not end the work stoppage.
Jones, citing a New York state law, ruled the strike illegal and fined the union one million dollars for each day of the action-the first to halt the New York transit system in 25 years.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has reportedly improved its wage offer but insisted on reducing pension and health care benefits.
The mediator said he had also persuaded both sides to refrain from issuing public statements about the details of the talks.
Even so, Pataki said on Fox News that the union and its leaders will still be fined for the strike.
"You break that law, you have to suffer the consequences. The leaders will have fines. The individual workers are going to lose three days for every day they were out in pay. And the union itself has been fined one million dollars a day ...these fines cannot be waived," he said
Bloomberg said the strike had "crippled" the retail industry and urged tourists and city residents to enjoy what was left of the Christmas shopping season.
City streets have been choked with cars during the strike, despite an emergency order that any vehicle entering Manhattan must carry at least four people.
Bike riding jumped an estimated 500 per cent, water taxis were mobbed and more commuters took advantage of the carpool staging areas.
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