Question:
If all the cabbies in the city go on strike and no one there notices, does it make a sound?
(I know it's not a perfect comparison, but here's a funny one: If a retard falls in the forest and no one's there, do the trees laugh?)
Seriously, I don't even know what they're striking for. Rates just went up a lot like two years ago (or was it more recent than that?). And who thought this would be a good idea? Was the head of the cabbie union (there's a cabbie union?) paying attention back when the MTA went on strike? I don't recall a great deal of public sympathy for the union. And didn't that Roger Touissant prick end up paying a big fine and even going to jail for a brief stint? And what did the MTA workers even get out of their far-more-destructive strike? Their benefits were already amazing. I think they actual wound up giving some stuff up in the end, though I could be wrong on that.
On top of that, they announced that it would be a two-day strike. Doesn't that kinda ruin the effect? If you let people know it's only gonna be a brief stoppage, what kind of leverage do you gain by striking? At least the MTA folks had the common sense not to announce when they would be ending their strike. Not that any of us truly thought it would go on interminably, but still, is there anyone in the cabbie union who understands the most basic concepts of striking?
And if there are no cabs, I can still just take the SUBWAY like almost everyone. It's not like back when the MTA was on strike, and you had to walk like 20 blocks to find a cab, and even then you had to share it with three other people. This strike is FAR less inconvenient. I rarely take cabs anyway. So I guess if there are some rich douchebags who cab it everywhere, they're the ones who are gonna really suffer, riding the trains with us peasants. Well boo-friggin'-hoo. I think I hear violins playing somewhere on 5th Avenue. (A small tear rolls down cheek.)
I get the feeling I must be missing something about this story. Perhaps I should have read an article on it or something. But if there's anyone who can enlighten me, I'm all ears.
2 comments:
It actually gets more ridiculous. First of all, there are not one, but several (at least two) cabbie unions. Only one of the unions is on strike, so there are a significant number of cabs still operating.
They're going on strike because they're protesting the fact that they have to put credit card machines in their cabs despite the fact that the recent fair hike was put in effect in order to cover the costs of putting in those machines.
Hm...apparently someone at the cabbie union did pay attention to how the MTA union runs things.
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