Media Links - August 30, 2010

These links are provided for the information of Local 100 members.  Local 100 does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in them.
Local 100 and members
•    Parkchester protests bus discontinuance - Bronx Times-Reporter
•    Woman nearly crushed by train after falling onto tracks, but motorman slams brakes just in time - Daily News
MTA operations
•    MTA Temporarily Puts The Brakes On Computer-Controlled L Trains [links to 45-sec. video] - New York 1
•    Dispatchers dish out colorful talk to keep buses moving - amNew York
•    L.I.R.R. Service to Return to Normal (free registration required) - NY Times
MTA cutbacks, funding and substitute services
•    Community rallies for van service plan - Queens Chronicle
•    MTA Mulls Steep Hike for Cash Tolls, Out-of-State Drivers - WNYC
•    Connecticut could pay New York for cheaper Metro North fares - Connecticut Post
Other MTA
•    State controller's office to launch 'forensic audit' of MTA - could lead to criminal charges - Daily News
•    Not All Riders Feel The Time Is Right For Subway Station Countdown Clocks [links to 2-min video] - New York 1
•    Transit scraps flip-seat pilot but other tests go on - 2nd Ave. Sagas
•    MTA unveils new Ridgewood terminal - Queens Chronicle
•    Held for Evading a Fare, Then Charged in a Rape (free registration required) - NY Times
•    Subway made me sick: suit - NY Post
•    Mocker Gets "Thank You" Letter from MTA [links to 3-min video] - WPIX-TV
•    LIRR chief Helena Williams takes morning train - and waits just like everyone else - Daily News
Other metro NY transit
•    New York seeks $77.5 million in federal funding for highway and rail improvements - Empire State News.net
•    Albany Transportation Wrap-Up: Hard-Fought Victories in 2010, With More Work Ahead - Tri-State Transportation Campaign
Safety and health
•    No Reason to Wait on Paid Sick Leave - Drum Major Institute blog
Metro NY public-sector workers
•    NYC OTB Chief: I'll Break Union Contracts If I Have To - Daily News blog
•    New Jersey’s Pension Fraud Hurts Investors, Taxpayers and Retirees - AFSCME
Public-sector workers outside metro NY
•    [Strike by hundreds of thousands of South African public-sector workers continues after 10 days] (free registration required) - NY Times
Metro NY private-sector workers
•    Union Problems Settled for NYC's Fashion Week (free registration required) - Associated Press
Private-sector workers outside metro NY
•    Editorial - Pension time bomb: The shadow hanging over GM's turnaround (free registration required) - Washington Post
Labor union policy and practice
•    Bonnie Ladin, National Labor College professor and union organizer, dies at 59 (free registration required) - Washington Post
Metro NY politics and economics
•    Pete Seeger to headline fundraiser for Brodsky - Albany Watch
National and international politics and economics
•    Reich: The Two Stories of This Terrible Economy, Yet Obama and the Dems Won’t Tell Theirs - Robert Reich's blog
•    How the Stimulus Is Changing America - Time
•    The Attack of the Killer Deficit? - Labor Notes
•     ‘Social Security Is Going Broke’...and Other Lies - Labor Notes
•    Op-Ed: The many sins of deregulation (free registration required) - Washington Post
•    Krugman: It’s Witch-Hunt Season (free registration required) - NY Times