The billionaire families that run New York City, represented by the Bloomberg administration, are waging an offensive against working people. They are seeking to drive down the wages and benefits and cut the jobs of tens of thousands of city employees. They aim to slash funding for schools, raise transit fares and tolls, and reduce medical coverage for municipal workers. All this in the name of fighting the "budget deficit." While Bloomberg claims he is for "equal sacrifice," some are more equal than others--the wealthy bondholders are always guaranteed their payments, at the expense of working people. The billionaire mayor’s pledge to pedal to work in the event of a transit strike is a laughable cover-up of the fact he represents the superwealthy class (besides having a little pocket change himself).

The transit workers are fighting for an end to a brutal disciplinary system, for job safety, to stop the underfinancing of their health fund, and other basic needs. These are very same questions that other working people--union and nonunion alike--confront in face of the bosses’ profit drive. The recent deaths of two transit workers--which could have been avoided if the Transit Authority had met the Transport Workers Union (TWU) demand to assign flaggers to every track crew--highlight the crucial question of safety.

The city fathers claim that because of the "budget crisis" there is no money for pay raises and in fact transit workers have to give back some of what they’ve won in previous struggles. The transit workers correctly reply, "Find the money!" Of course there is plenty of money--beginning with the billions in payments forked out religiously to the bondholders. The needs of working people must be the starting point, not the employers’ problems.

The big-business media has been working overtime to crank up its propaganda against the TWU. The New York Post has labeled the union’s fight a "jihad." Bloomberg says the transit workers, if they go on strike, will be responsible for the worsening of the city’s economy, for people dying from lack of medical care, and numerous other problems. No--as long as the Transit Authority refuses to agree to the contract demands of the transit workers, it’s the city government that will be responsible for any disruption that may ensue.

Big-business spokespeople call the transit workers "overpaid" to pit working people against each other. But those wages are the result of years of struggles, and a victory by the TWU will put other workers in a stronger position to increase their wages and social benefits.

The transit workers’ battle poses many of the social questions facing the entire working class, including the need to expand the national social security system to guarantee workers a lifetime right to free, universal medical care; workers’ compensation if they are injured; and unemployment insurance for as long as needed. These social entitlements go hand in hand with the fight to ensure jobs for all; to raise the wages and shorten the hours of the working class; and the union’s ability to enforce health and safety on the job.

The government’s threats to mobilize the National Guard as strikebreakers underscores the fact that the employers’ attack on the TWU and other workers at home is intertwined with Washington’s moves toward a war of plunder in the Mideast. They are part of a two-front war on working people.

The government is threatening to assault the transit workers if they strike by imposing massive fines and jailing union leaders. Is it possible to stand up to these threats? Yes, if the whole labor movement comes together behind the TWU and flexes its muscles. Past union battles, like the 1980 transit strike and the 1990–91 Daily News strike, show that the working class in New York can be counted on to cut through the bosses’ propaganda and extend decisive solidarity.

By standing up to the city government and the employer class , the transit workers help point the road forward for all working people. Their fight is our fight.
 
 
Related article:
New York transit workers vote to authorize strike  
 
 
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