A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics
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A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics | |
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December 22, 2005Weld: Fire NYC Transit Union LeadersIt is hard to dig your anchor into any of our political leaders today because you more than likely will end up lost at sea, but one of my political heroes is former Massachusetts Governor, and current candidate for New York Governor, Bill Weld. Weld has had a positive impact on American politics, IMO, because he has shown that being centrist doesn't always mean acting in moderation, and that sometimes being a leader means proposing bold solutions and dramatic change. I know some question Weld's leadership in his latter years as a resident of the Governor's mansion on Beacon Hill, and as someone who doesn't live in that state I won't dispute his imperfections, but I have admiration and respect for the man who stared down Jesse Helms and wouldn't abandon a position on medical marijuana in order to be President Clinton's Ambassador to Mexico. That is character in my book. Weld is again showing his iron will by taking on a union in the biggest union town of them all, stating that as Governor he would fire labor leaders who strike illegally, specifically the members of the Transit Worker's Union in NYC. Weld's likely Democratic opponent, Attorney General Elliot Spitzer, has yet to take a position. Spitzer is the darling of the DLC wing of the Democratic Party, and has earned the respect of many center leaning groups and individuals. I don't know much about the man, but my personal impression is that he is a prosecutor of the worst kind; the type that only takes the cases solely to get his name in the paper. Is that fair? Maybe or maybe not, but the fact that he is mum on an issue that seems so plainly obvious to me, doesn't help his image. The TWU's actions were unacceptable. During a cold east coast December, the strike, that is now over, left millions walking to work in the biggest city in the world. I don't know how many of you have been to New York or understand its geography, but there is no place on the planet where public transit is more vital to the economy and the overall well being of the city. There is a good reason that certain public employees by law are forbidden to strike, the situation in the Big Apple was a primary example. The Weld campaign recently released a radio ad: While the campaign for Governor has just begun -- the current New York City transit strike has already become an issue. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has accepted campaign contributions from the transit union for the past four years. His main opponent, Bill Weld, has called on Spitzer to answer a simple question: as governor, would you fire the union leadership? A strategic political maneuver no doubt, but an effective one, and overall I agree. There is a time to negotiate and focus on interests. There is a time for give and take. There is also a time to put your foot down and say enough is enough. I am sure most middle class working families who were forced to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge to get to work at 7:30 in the morning, would agree. Comments
Weld's showing his iron? Give me a freaking break. Weld's the Republican. His only shot at any part of the union vote is a law and order play. This transit strike was such a stupid move that the larger union entity that the NY branch is part of doesn't support it. People are pissed. Weld's move is a no-brainer. Only the democratic candidate is in an awkward position here. It topok absolutely ZERO sack for Weld to make this move. The only thing that surprises me is that it took so long. He was probably waiting for them to finish the commercial. I don't disagree with Weld's position. I only disagree with your claim that it shows some sort of singular bravery. It shows nothing of the sort. Posted by: bk at December 22, 2005 05:55 PMActually, I tend to agree with Mathew. It would be pretty bold and brave -- and not necessarily popular -- to fire the union leaders. Also, it might be a pretty stupid and counterproductive, if the goal to was to end the strike while getting a good deal for the taxpayers. Firing the leaders would be tossing gasoline on the fire. Besides, I imagine the union contract makes it real hard to fire the union leaders. ;-) Posted by: Oberon at December 22, 2005 06:07 PMWeld's showing his iron? Give me a freaking break. Weld's the Republican. His only shot at any part of the union vote is a law and order play. Yup, I figured you would be the one to contradict that. Maybe not a full blown profile in courage, but I disagree. Not in New York. It doesn't matter what party you are in, without significant union support statewide, conventional wisdom says you don't win especially in the Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester, Albany areas of the state where Republicans have to do well. Furthermore, I would argue that any politician, especially a moderate Republican who probably relies on some labor backing to win in a general election, that says they would fire any member of any union for striking, is skating on thin ice... Maybe not in the deep south and some of the midwest. It's not opposing the strike, but saying he would actually fire the leaders that I think took some guts. Had a candidate for Governor done this anywhere else, I would agree. Posted by: Mathew at December 22, 2005 06:12 PMRetract that last sentence... I might agree, depends on what part of the country we are talking about. Posted by: Mathew at December 22, 2005 06:14 PMAnyone wanna take bets on how soon NYC starts installing an automated subway system? ;-) Posted by: Tully at December 22, 2005 06:34 PMJust to clarify regarding Spitzer: would it be appropriate for a public prosecuter to comment on the strike? Posted by: c3 at December 22, 2005 06:50 PMMatt if there were either widespread union solidarity on this particular strike (which there isn't) or a substantial body of voters who were today less likely to vote for him now, I'd agree. People are pissed about this, and they've been sitting around kitchen tables saying precisely what Weld said. Come election day, they'll all remember that. Not that it makes Weld a shoo-in or anything. Weld is a blithe, my-sh!t-don't-stink libertine who lucked into the MA governor's chair when a series of inept democratic moves led to Weld facing a stern,grumpy, unlikable know-it-all loose cannon (John Silber)instead of the usual bland familiar shiny lefty hope. I'll be interested to see how Weld does against a legitimate opponent. Then we'll see if he's any good. Posted by: bk at December 22, 2005 07:11 PMIs is inappropriate for a public prosecutor to point out that an illegal strike is in fact, illegal? Interesting point, but wouldn't he have said it is inappropriate already if he felt that were the case. As Brian articulated so well, this puts Spitzer in a box as a Democrat, I imagine "no comment" would at least remove that box for the time being, and Spitzer would have jumped on that had it been a valid option. I noticed Bloomberg said he was glad they were back... GLAD THEY ARE BACK! I know the man has got to keep the city running, and firing their ass for breaking the law, while justifiable, would cripple the city, but "glad you are back?" Does he really have to kiss their ass? Posted by: Mathew at December 22, 2005 07:18 PMWeld is a blithe, my-sh!t-don't-stink libertine who lucked into the MA governor's chair when a series of inept democratic moves led to Weld facing a stern,grumpy, unlikable know-it-all loose cannon (John Silber)instead of the usual bland familiar shiny lefty hope. Ha! Again, I disagree, but at least you made me laugh... I think he appears more elitist than he is, which is an obvious flaw. Didn't he win re-election by a pretty wide margin against a Democrat of the likes you speak of? Did not he also come within a few percentage points of beating the blandest and most familiar of shiny lefty hopes, and an incumbent U.S. Senator to boot, one Senator John F. Kerry? His hill against Spitzer is long and steep, no doubt, but my impression of Spitzer so far is he might have the Rudy and Mario Cuomo problem... Exciting portfolio, but what works in NYC doesn't work anywhere else once you get to know it well. On Weld's snobbery and political capability, the way I see it, a Republican in blue-chusetts is a Republican in blue-chusetts. Posted by: Mathew at December 22, 2005 07:32 PM++Anyone wanna take bets on how soon NYC starts installing an automated subway system? ;-)++
Has anyone considered the practicality of firing the strikers? If the point of doing so is to get the transit system up and running again, firing all the workers would guarantee a shutdown until a sufficient number of workers can be replaced, and even then it they would be forced to run reduced service (read: accept more crowding) until the full workforce can be replaced. The only way to get experienced workers quickly is to cannibalize other systems, which is of limited if any practicality. That means recruiting and training the entire workforce, which would take months. Many of you are probably wondering what skill is needed to control the speed of a train with a fixed guideway. What that viewpoint ignores is that the onboard crew also has to be prepared to react to emergencies. For instance, if there's an AC power outage, a crewman has make sure that the DC power line is deactivated before evacuating the train to let the passengers get out of the tunnel, and know where it's possible to lead the passengers to the surface. That doesn't include the trackworkers and all the even less visible workers who are needed to keep the system operational. Anyone wanna take bets on how soon NYC starts installing an automated subway system? ;-) In normal operations, airline flights can get by with considerably fewer flight attendants than are mandated. It is for the extraordinary situations that the full crew is needed. The same is the case for a subway crew as my earlier paragraph just scratched the surface of. Without a serious plan to address the replacement issue, I can't consider Weld's statement as anything more than political posturing. An unrelated note: none of this is to justify the full scope of the union's demands or their tactics to attain them. It is simply a call to look at the wider ramifications of such a response. Posted by: Scott Smith at December 22, 2005 08:21 PMI think Scott's point illustrates why Weld's statement did not take any courage at all; he's not in a position to fire the strikers and deal with the massive issues that would result from such a rash action. He's playing on New Yorker's anger by making an outrageous suggestion that feeds their desire for retaliation at the inconveniences they experienced. There is nothing centrist about doing further harm to the city's public transportation system to extract revenge. A centrist position would be to take the Union leaders to court and find a more moderate punishment, not to fire them. Obviously the Union felt problems were severe enough to face legal consequences and I think they should be put on trial, but Weld's pandering to the mob shows a complete lack of principle in this matter. If you find this logic flawed, then think of Democrats who call for pulling out of Iraq when they do not have the power to make such a decision and face its consequences. Only if you think that centrists are wimpy, Ryan. A strong centrist could easily say, hey, the law is clear on this one. They all knew it was against the law, and they chose to break it. Here's the consequence. It's not being done so much to "punish", as to demonstrate that we will not be trifled with and we will not tolerate those who disrupt our society in violation of the law. It's to stop the next group of public employees from even thinking that their problems are "severe enough to face legal consequences". I don't care how "bad" the conditions they face are, they don't justify bringing an entire city to a halt. As Tully has pointed out, public employee unions are rather unique. There is no competition, and there is no other source of supply for the services they provide. When UPS went on strike, it was bad, but the result was a (rapidly) bigger FedEx and DHL and others, and many packages still got through. There's no viable alternative to mass transit in New York City. I was on a train in France once when it slowly came to a stop in the middle of nowhere. The union had called a strike for 1pm. So, wherever the train was at 1pm, that's where we stopped. Took an hour for some manager to come out and drive the train in to the nearest station (which itself was 30 or 40 miles from our final destination). That's not an unusual occurence over there. I don't want to ever have that happen in this country, quite frankly. Posted by: PatHMV at December 23, 2005 09:56 AMTully, Given what I know of NYC's infastructure, I'd say a VERY LONG time. When repairs are neccessary, they spend most of the time jury rigging equipment because most of the systems are so old replacement parts are no longer manufactured. The city spends VERY little time or energy pro-actively modernizing thier systems. Most of the cities budget is devoted to supporting a bloated and horribly inefficient bearucracy, very little goes towards actual equipment. Also, Unions really have a political strangle-hold on the city. This is not just the case in the public sector but in the private sector as well. NYC looses a TON of convention business to near outlying Metro Areas (NJ, White Plains, CT) simply due to the fact that union labor drives the costs so much. Quite literaly if one of the light-bulbs in your exhibit booth goes out, you have to get a $150 an hour Union Electrician to come change it.... and that's not just in the big convention centers either, that's the way it is in many of the private Hotels that have convention facilities. The strike was able to be broken because it simply p'od so many ordinary folks (including most other union members) who were stuck without transportation in freezing weather the week before Christmass that folks didn't care if the Union got smacked down. However doing something pro-actively that would eliminate union jobs if the general public weren't being immediately and horribly inconvenienced by the Union at the moment.... I can't see how that would fly in NYC. As far as the Governers race, I can tell you that Spitzer is LOATHED in most of the rural areas of NY. Then again so are most of the Dem's who hold statewide office. It tends to surprise alot of people but NY outside of the Metro areas, Westchester and Long Island and a few other enclaves is pretty solidly red state country. In my town in 2004, I didn't see a single Kerry sign.... yet it seemed every 4th House or so sported a Bush sign. Heck we didn't even have a Dem on the ballot for any of the Town offices.... it was a choice between GOP, Conservative Party and Constitution Party challangers. Yet it really doesn't matter for most statewide offices NYC Metro and Long Island are where most of the population (and hence the votes are). Mathew, FWIW my impression of Spitzer pretty much exactly matches your own. As a prosecuter, he cares more about scoring political points then about serving justice. I always liked Weld, I think he's smart and he's got integrity. He'll definately be getting my vote. Only if you think that centrists are wimpy, Ryan. A strong centrist could easily say, hey, the law is clear on this one. Pat, are you construeing his statement as something like "drastic actions are not centrist?" I'm not certain of what Ryan meant, but he was drawing on a statement of mine about drastic action without taking care of the consequences of those actions. I would say that drastic actions can be compatible with centrism provided that the consequences are reasonably mitigated. But, to do so with no action plan to do so, let alone with no thought about such consequence, is incompatible with centrism. Posted by: Scott Smith at December 23, 2005 11:38 AMAs far as the Governers race, I can tell you that Spitzer is LOATHED in most of the rural areas of NY. Then again so are most of the Dem's who hold statewide office. It tends to surprise alot of people but NY outside of the Metro areas, Westchester and Long Island and a few other enclaves is pretty solidly red state country.Ditto that. Grew up in upstate and is very red, if only because NYC is very blue. Posted by: c3 at December 23, 2005 01:56 PM Scott, you're right, but you must also look at the consequences of inaction. The argument here is that inaction, not imposing serious, painful, hard consequences on both the leadership and the rank-and-file who went along with the clearly illegal strike, will lead to increased disrespect for the law and a greater likelihood of future illegal strikes by these or other public employees. Of course, I'm in the "millions for defense, not one penny for tribute" camp. Posted by: PatHMV at December 24, 2005 01:35 AMAttempts to define centrism bother me... It sort of sounds like Republicans who say Republicans that are pro-choice arent' really Republican, and Democrats who say, etc. We have historically stayed away from that on this site, I would hope it continues that way. Posted by: Mathew at December 24, 2005 03:29 PMHas anyone considered the practicality of firing the strikers? Nobody has proposed that. Weld said those who lead the strike should be fired, not those who participated it. Furthermore, I think the greater point here is the position that hose who lead illegal strikes are breaking the law, a position that I think is gutsy for anyone running for public office. Pat, Good point! If there is anything that hurts moderation in government it is wimpy centrists ;) Posted by: Mathew at December 24, 2005 03:34 PM |
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