Published by KermMartian on December 21, 2005 at 8:21:08 AM CST | Discuss this article (4)

As New York City enters its second day of transit strikes, the holiday shopping season has been crippled, but for many, business continues as usual. The last transit strike, which took place in 1980, affected only about half of the 7.5 million people who have been impacted by this walkout. The Transit Workers Union Local 100 (TWU) is demanding 8% raises over the next three years, while the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority), the city agency that oversees the 721 miles of subway track and thousands of buses in the city's fleets, has been suggesting a pension plan that the workers are unhappy with. Opinions from talking to people around the city have been mixed; the majority seem to feel that the workers are wrong to strike at such a critical time and that the terms they have been offered are quite generous; a few commiserate with the TWU, saying that the workers need to stand up for their rights. I for one have been walking about eleven miles each day to and from college, a good workout in the freezing cold, but one I would certainly forgo for my usual thirty-minutesubway commute. I and 7,499,999 New Yorkers hope that this situation is resolved as quickly as possible.

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