Early this morning, just over 24 hours into this insane strike, one of predictions began to come true. My feeling was that once these strikers began to see the impact of their actions, they would have a change of heart. Sure enough, it was reported that nearly 900 of them have crossed the picket line.
Not knowing the skill level of those who crossed, it is hard to say what this means other than a dissention that will no doubt eat away at the will of the strike. However it has been speculated that the MTA could use these workers to either run certain bus lines or, better yet, two or three of the city’s express trains.
Whatever may come of this, it is pretty certain that the strike will end on Thursday evening as announced by local TWU president Roger Toussaint. Despite his posturing and attempt to appear the hero, the reason for such a prediction comes simply from the fact that the union can not financially carry this strike any longer.
The city is seeking massive fines in excess of $1,000,000 per day. The union only has just over $3,500,000 in their bank. So, if you do the math … late on Thursday would be exactly 3 1/2 days.
This combined with very little support from the public, government and even the international parent sect of the union means this strike should have a much shorter life than the one of April 1980.
I would like to see the carpool restrictions remain for purely selfish reasons. I’m growing fond of my quicker commute.
