It appears that the New York City transit strike is being terminated.
Which means that the strike lasted three days, and that the striking workers will therefore forfeit 6 days pay for their illegal acts, give or take.
Here are some hypotheticals: If the workers receive a 5% raise, then it will take 120 workdays for them to make up the forfeited pay.
A 6% raise would mean breakeven after 100 workdays. A 4% raise would require 150 workdays to recoup their forfeited pay.
And this of course would assume raises above and beyond whatever the transit workers would have gotten anyway had they never struck.
Taking that into consideration, perhaps increments of 1% (600 workdays to break even) or 2% (300 workdays to break even) would be better estimates.
Morons.
More thoughts at Cake or Death.
4 responses so far ↓
Link Tony // Dec 23, 2005 at 9:59 am
But we should all continue believing in the power of unions to look out for the working man. Is it wrong that I laughed a little at the thought of the striking workers needing to work 1 to 2 years to make up for 3 days? I didn't think so.
Link J Philip // Dec 23, 2005 at 10:27 am
Kip, you didn't get the memo? Only the MTA is allowed to be criticized for the economic costs of the strike.
Link John T. Kennedy // Dec 25, 2005 at 4:36 am
Why aren't libertarians commenting on the obvious injustice of outlawing strikes?
[Kip replies: Because libertarians believe in freedom of contract. If you don't like the terms of employment, which are made clear upfront, then don't take the job.
Now how about the injustice of requiring people to join unions, or at least to pay union dues, against their will?]
Link John T. Kennedy // Dec 30, 2005 at 1:06 am
Freedom of contract???
The transit workers had no contract when they went on strike.