Transit strike aftermath: TWU Victory Stuns Both Left and Right

Transit strike aftermath: TWU Victory Stuns Both Left and Right
The transit workers strike was a monumental victory.
By A.K. GUPTA
The Indypendent

The transit workers strike was a monumental victory. Abandoned by their international, with the staggering weight of the political establishment, the judiciary, the corporate press and much of the public against them, the TWU faced down threats of jail and massive fines, plus warnings the union would be busted, and won.

After the strike ended on Dec. 22, the scuttlebutt was that TWU President Roger Toussaint had sold out the workers. But when Toussaint announced a deal on Dec. 27, many gasped in surprise that not only had the union beaten back the MTA’s demand to raise the retirement age from 55 to 62, the TWU also got as much as $200 million in pension overpayments returned to workers.

While many New Yorkers backed the TWU’s fight for decent pay and dignity, others have been so beaten down that they resented the fact that working people could make a living wage with job security and a pension to boot.

The transit workers showed the power of solidarity. They called the cynical bluff of a billionaire mayor, a corrupt governor and their appointees at the MTA. In a dramatic turnaround, it’s the ruling elite that is now divided, arguing over the contract’s details and whether it should be approved.

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