Media Links - January 10, 2011

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

·         Retired transit veteran ready to tell District Attorney about bogus signal inspection reports - Daily News

·         Fake Reports Put Straphangers in Danger, Says Council - WNYC

·         Bus 'bash' sparks suit - NY Post

·         So Token Booth Collectors Don't Have to Help Cops Either? - Gothamist blog

Heavy snow + management meltdown = fiasco

·         Sanitation men may have staged work slowdown, but they'll be swimming in overtime pay - Daily News

·         Hands-On Job Has Deputy Mayor Taking His Lumps (free registration required) - NY Times

·         Council to Grill Mayor’s Team Over Response to the Blizzard (free registration required) - NY Times

·         Council Sets Stage for Snow(ball) Fight - Gotham Gazette

·         Bronx Still Angry Over Snow - Bronx Times

·         Op-ed: Why so chipper, Mike? - NY Post

MTA operations

·         Editorial: 'Indispensable' scammers - NY Post

MTA cutbacks, budget and funding

·         “Watch Your Wallet,” Straphangers – It’s Budget Season In Albany [links to 1.5-min video] - Streetsblog

·         MTA Finances Grow Even Shakier Under GOP House - Streetsblog

·         Rider Rebellion: Putting the Public in Public Transit [new website] - Transportation Alternatives

·         Photo of the Day: A Rider Rebellion on the A train - 2nd Ave. Sagas

Other MTA

·         MTA plan D-railed: Lost $500M of taxpayer money on boondoggle - NY Post

·         Transit honchos say they want to improve subways? Just look up: Ceilings are coming down - Daily News

·         Ex-NYPD chief Douglas Zeigler appointed to run MTA security - Daily News

·         MTA Appoints New Head of Security - Transit Blogger

·         Appeals court upholds firing of MTA security chief - NY Post

·         'Bridge & funnel' toll suit - NY Post

Other metro NY transit

·         Suffolk bus fare veto override planned - Newsday

·         Making way for transit on the Bayonne Bridge - 2nd Ave. Sagas

·         Transit touters: Bayonne Bridge makeover raises the stakes - Staten Island Advance

·         In New Jersey, DeCamp negotiations 'heading in the right direction' - Montclair Times

·         Experts critical of Christie's transportation funding fix - Bergen Record

·         NJ Transportation Plan Draws Fire; Some ARC Money Goes to Roads - Transportation Nation blog

·         Details Murky in Gov. Christie’s TTF Plan - Tri-State Transportation Campaign

·         CT Transit Bus Drivers Make A Deal - New Haven Independent

·         2010 CT Year in Review: Steady Progress in the Land of Steady Habits - Tri-State Transportation Campaign

Safety and health

·         9/11 rescue workers facing four-month health treatment gap over Congress budget delay - Daily News

·         Heroic 9/11 first responder Roy Chelsen loses battle with cancer at 51 - Daily News

·         Correction officers' suit says Rikers Island prison is built on 'toxic' landfill, causing cancer - Daily News

Transit workers and systems outside metro NY

·         Pittsburgh Driver’s Union: Bring on The Investigation - WDUQ-FM

·         Toledo transit union grieves TARTA holiday pay: Workers protest run schedules - Toledo Blade

·         Jacksonville Transportation Authority, bus drivers near a new contract - Florida Times-Union

·         RMT boss Bob Crow attacks 'partying' bankers - BBC News

Transit policy

·         Rising Gas Prices Allow Public Transit Riders to Ring in the New Year with an Average Savings of $805 This Month and $9,656 Annually  - American Public Transportation Association

NY public-sector workers

·         Mayor Bloomberg's NYC Civil Service Overhaul Plan: Hot Or Not? (Not, Says AFL-CIO Boss) - Daily News blog

·         Mayor Bloomberg Releases Workforce Reform Report To Modernize Work Rules, Cut Costs And Empower City Workers - Office of the Mayor

·         27-page Report and Recommendations - NYC Workforce Reform Task Force

·         Bloomberg: It's too hard to fire, punish city workers (free registration required) - Crain's NY Business

·         Nassau union boss says he's done dealing with County Executive Mangano's demands for concessions (free registration required) - Newsday

·         Attacking Public Employees: Will New York Lead? - MR Zine

·         Unions: Cuomo Wrong On Juvenile Prisons - Associated Press

Public-sector workers outside metro NY

·         Local Governments Cut 20,000 Jobs Last Month to Balance Budgets - Bloomberg News

·         The Shameful Attack on Public Employees - AFL-CIO blog

·         The Truth About Public Employees, the New Convenient Scapegoats - In These Times

·         Public-sector workers earn less - Economic Policy Institute

·         The Cynical War on Public Sector Workers - The Progressive

·         Public Sector, Public Good - Labor Notes

Metro New York private-sector workers

·         Study Finds Exploitation of Day Laborers (free registration required) - NY Times

Private-sector workers outside metro New York

·         American Airlines, Flight Attendants End Mediated Talks Without Labor Deal - Bloomberg News

Labor union policy and practice

·         Lack of Paid Sick Leave Is Family and Public Health Concern - AFL-CIO blog

·         Review of NYC Carpenters’ Union Shows Corruption Persists (free registration required) - NY Times

·         Do the New NLRB Rules Really Help Workers Organize? - Huffington Post

·         Unions Condemn FBI 'Fishing Expedition' - Labor Notes

Metro NY politics and economics

·         Editorial: New York State United Teachers has plenty of money to spend on getting its way in Albany - Daily News

·         Walmart skips appearance at city hearings about potential NY store, council members criticize chain - Daily News

·         Pols shop for trouble: Critics' own constituents back retail giant Wal-Mart - NY Post

National politics and economics

·         Crackdown on Organized Labor: States Call for Wage & Benefits Cuts, Urge Laws to Curb Union Influence [links to 42-minute video] - Democracy Now

·         Obama the Centrist Irks [Robert Reich, who says "the public is being sold a big lie — that our problems owe to unions and the size of government and not to fraud and deregulation and vast concentration of wealth"] (free registration required) - NY Times

·         Op-ed: Misery With Plenty of Company (free registration required) - NY Times

·         Op-Ed: Corporate America, paving a downward economic slide (free registration required) - Washington Post

·         Krugman: Climate of Hate (free registration required) - NY Times

·         Why Do 48 Percent of Americans Disapprove of Unions? [links to 10-min video] - In These Times

Healthcare reform