Now, before anyone jumps down my throat with all the "well, they should fight for everything they are entitled to." arguments......... let's take a look at some of the benefits that these "workers" currently enjoy:
Free health insurance for their entire family for life. - Yes, even after they retire they will still be getting health insurance for the rest of their lives.
Pension of 1/2 pay after they retire after 25 years. Current age that they retire is 55. The city wants to raise this to 62 for future hires, and the union went nuts. That's right............I'm shelling out big money to take a cab back and forth to work today because the transit workers are worried about someone who isn't even hired yet having to retire at age 62 instead of 55. Keep in mind this change does not effect anyone who is currently employed.
Free transportation on all city trains and buses, at any time (yes, even if you're not going to or from work, or it's your day off) for life. Yes folks, as the rest of us have to worry about fare hikes to pay for this new contract that the union seeks, transit workers never have to worry about shelling out a dime.
Average base pay of between 40,000 - 60,000 dollars a year. The way these people are ranting and raving, you'd think they were getting minimum wage. Oh, and the requirements for these jobs.......no formal education or experience needed. So it's not like you had to spend 8 years in college to get these jobs.
As you can see from my above rant, I'm very, very upset right now. Oh, and all these people in violation of the Taylor Law by going on strike in the first place.........please, you can rest assured that it will be worked into any agreement made that all fines and penalties will be dropped. The only ones who will suffer in the end is us
