"We were thinking of running them over..."

New York transit workers' strike. In the mainstream media, it's hard to find the precise details of the issues the union ordered the strike over. I recall reading a story last week where the issues of raises was botched in the reporting and an extremely careful reading suggests that the rejected contract included raises that did not even cover cost of living increases. This was not exactly clear in the report though. So based on what's coming through the mainstream media, it seems difficult to assess whether the cause for strike is warranted. However if you consider the penalties that the workers and union will be subjected to, it is hard to believe they are striking for minor reasons.

Aside from the fines to the union ($1 million per day of the strike) and threats to imprison union leaders, the individual workers will lose two days of pay for each day they are on strike. A lawyer for NYC has also recently asked the state supreme court to impose a $25,000 on each worker for each day they are on strike. How can anyone look at this and assume that the reasons for the strike are frivolous? I guess some people could, as the following passage from a much run AP report indicates:

Isaac Flores, who works at a law firm in midtown, was part of a complicated, four-person car pool to get to work Wednesday morning. "They're too spoiled," Flores said of the transit workers. "They want to retire at age 55. They're making more money than a cop."
Flores traveled in a car pool with Myra Sanoguet, who saw a group of pickets in upper Manhattan as their car drove past. "We were thinking about running them over just now," Sanoguet said.

It kind of makes me wonder when Mr. Flores and Ms. Sanoguet plan to retire and how much money they make. I am picturing them riding in a lexus SUV, drinking starbucks crappacinos, and tapping away at their handhelds in a rush to dump stock that will devalue their portfolios to the point where they can't afford the home in the Hamptons and christmas ski trips with their part time children, Jaycen-Leighenne and Millet Alabaster Froederick, this year.