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American Morning
New York City Transit Trouble: Strike on Hold
Aired December 16, 2002 - 07:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get to New York straight away right now and that transit strike that has not happened, not yet anyway. Negotiations do continue, throughout the weekend into the Monday morning hours, but the threat of a strike is still out there.
Jason Carroll now watching things live from the streets of Brooklyn for more there.
Jason -- good morning.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Bill.
A lot of New Yorkers went to bed last night not sure what to expect when they woke up this morning. But last night just before a midnight strike deadline, union representatives came out and said that enough common ground had been reached in non-economic areas to keep talking, to keep at the bargaining table.
Definitely good news for the millions upon millions of commuters, who depend upon the buses and subways in order to get to and from work.
The sticking point in the negotiations, of course, money. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says it does not have the money to pay union members the raises that they're demanding.
I should also point out that it is illegal for public workers in the state of New York to go out on strike. And if they should go out on strike, they could face heavy fines, but fines may not be enough to avert a strike. If you look at your history here in New York, back in 1980, fines were imposed then, but that strike lasted for 11 days.
Of course, the people caught in the middle of all of this are New York commuters. Joining me right now is one of them, Dominique (ph).
Dominique (ph), I know that you are certainly glad that you got the news that a strike had been averted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, absolutely happy, because traveling from Manhattan sometimes is tough enough.
CARROLL: Absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To have to deal with the strike would have been terrifying in this city, because sometimes people take advantage of other people's unfortunate (ph) of taking a strike, and this city doesn't need that. Too many -- especially now, Christmas time, people coming in for the holidays, and work would have been terrible.
CARROLL: All right, Dominique (ph), thanks very much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
CARROLL: Glad that you able to hop on a subway this morning. Have a good day at work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You too.
CARROLL: Once again, both sides are back at the bargaining table, the morning commute is smooth, commuters like Dominique (ph) hoping that the evening commute will be just as smooth -- Bill.
HEMMER: Jason, thanks -- Jason Carroll on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge this morning, watching the commuter flow today. Thanks, Jason.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired December 16, 2002 - 07:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get to New York straight away right now and that transit strike that has not happened, not yet anyway. Negotiations do continue, throughout the weekend into the Monday morning hours, but the threat of a strike is still out there.
Jason Carroll now watching things live from the streets of Brooklyn for more there.
Jason -- good morning.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Bill.
A lot of New Yorkers went to bed last night not sure what to expect when they woke up this morning. But last night just before a midnight strike deadline, union representatives came out and said that enough common ground had been reached in non-economic areas to keep talking, to keep at the bargaining table.
Definitely good news for the millions upon millions of commuters, who depend upon the buses and subways in order to get to and from work.
The sticking point in the negotiations, of course, money. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says it does not have the money to pay union members the raises that they're demanding.
I should also point out that it is illegal for public workers in the state of New York to go out on strike. And if they should go out on strike, they could face heavy fines, but fines may not be enough to avert a strike. If you look at your history here in New York, back in 1980, fines were imposed then, but that strike lasted for 11 days.
Of course, the people caught in the middle of all of this are New York commuters. Joining me right now is one of them, Dominique (ph).
Dominique (ph), I know that you are certainly glad that you got the news that a strike had been averted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, absolutely happy, because traveling from Manhattan sometimes is tough enough.
CARROLL: Absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To have to deal with the strike would have been terrifying in this city, because sometimes people take advantage of other people's unfortunate (ph) of taking a strike, and this city doesn't need that. Too many -- especially now, Christmas time, people coming in for the holidays, and work would have been terrible.
CARROLL: All right, Dominique (ph), thanks very much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
CARROLL: Glad that you able to hop on a subway this morning. Have a good day at work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You too.
CARROLL: Once again, both sides are back at the bargaining table, the morning commute is smooth, commuters like Dominique (ph) hoping that the evening commute will be just as smooth -- Bill.
HEMMER: Jason, thanks -- Jason Carroll on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge this morning, watching the commuter flow today. Thanks, Jason.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
