Transit lines are life blood

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Transit Lines are Life Blood
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Recent Stories / November 7, 2005

Week of January 23, 2006

January 27, 2006

State of the City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave a State of the City address yesterday that was noted for a number of aggressive, ambitious proposals. Bloomberg said that World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein should give up the rights to develop two of the five towers planned for the World Trade Center in exchange for lower rent. In three of the city's poorest neighborhoods -- Bushwick, Melrose, and Bedford-Stuvyesant -- the mayor will create public-private task forces, partnering with CEOs of large corporations to "attack chronic unemployment and poverty.�

The mayor also called on unions to make concessions on health care and pension costs; repeated his plan to use the public schools to enroll children in public health insurance programs; said he would extend tax rebates for homeowners; and laid out further actions to decrease gun violence. He mentioned several ideas for improving the city's education system, but added that these efforts were being undermined by the state's refusal to comply with a court order that would give the city more money for education.

Read a full transcript.

Also, for the mainstream media�s coverage of the speech, see City Hall News.


January 26, 2006

Tough New Offer
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday proposed a contract far less generous to the city's transit workers than the one the workers narrowly voted down last Friday. The new offer has just about everything union members found objectionable in past proposals, including a requirement that workers begin contributing 1.5 percent of their wages toward a health-insurance premium. The transit authority filed its latest offer with the Public Employment Relations Board. It wants the state board to form a binding arbitration panel that has the power to impose a new contract on the union. Asked if the union was prepared to call for another strike, Secretary-Treasurer Ed Watt said, "In the short term, no. In the long term, we have to see."

For more, see Transportation Links in the News.

The State of The City Address
Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to give The State of the City Address from the Snug Harbor Cultural Center on Staten Island at 1 pm today. He will announce plans to attack illegal guns, speed up rebuilding of the World Trade Center site and launch an anti-poverty program.

Please check back later for a complete transcript

January 25, 2006

Changes in Child Welfare
Responding to the death of 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown, Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday announced major changes in child welfare programs. Saying he was not interested in "superficial change," Bloomberg called for $16 million in additional spending, the hiring of about 600 new employees, and better coordination among city agencies responsible for fighting abuse. Experts said the changes -- the most sweeping in child welfare services in a decade -- would improve the current system rather than replace it. While the mayor said a review of all 10,000 open child abuse cases in the city has revealed few concerns overall, it has found problems in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where Nixzmary lived. Her family was already under investigation for abuse at the time of her death.

For more, see Children Links in the News.

A More Democratic Council
New City Council Speaker Christine Quinn yesterday called for a number of changes in the way the council does business as she pledged to make the city legislature more democratic and open. The largely procedural reforms would give individual council members more power by, for example, making it easier for them to propose legislation. Quinn also wants to reduce the number of signatures needed to move a bill from committee to the full council, require more advance notice of council hearings and post revisions of bills on the council Web site. The council is expected to consider the changes in the next week.

For more, see City Hall News.

January 24, 2006

What Now?
It is still unclear what will happen now that transit workers have rejected the contract negotiated by their union leadership. Representatives of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Transport Workers Union Local 100 have not resumed negotiations. The MTA will reportedly ask the state Public Employment Relations Board this week to consider forming a panel that could impose the terms of a contract. Transit workers are so opposed to this binding arbitration that at least one dissident union leader has threatened to call another strike over it, but most observers say this is unlikely. It could take months before a resolution. For more information, go to transportation links in the news.

January 23, 2006

Transit Contract Rejected
Members of Transport Workers Union Local 100 on Friday afternoon rejected the contract they went on strike to get -- by 7 votes out of more than 22,000. According to the Daily News, three dissenters -- "a radical token booth clerk, a son of a veteran striker and an immigrant once fired by union boss Roger Toussaint" -- helped defeat the contract. But the Times also notes that age played a role. Many older union members voted for the contract because of expanded health benefits for retirees, while younger members voted against the contract's 1.5 percent payment of wages to health premiums. Peter Kalikow, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, has said that to settle the dispute he will now seek binding arbitration, which the union has strongly opposed.

For more, see Transportation Links In The News.

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