What’s Really At Stake
I have been racking my brain the past few days trying to figure out what to write about the New York City transit strike. As a card-carrying member of two labor unions, my allegiance is with the workers and working class people everywhere. But how to capture the real issues that are at stake here, which many passive observers have missed fixating on their own travel inconveniences, was troubling me until I received an email with the following commentary.
Bernie
STRIKING FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS
by Andy Stettner
Today, 34,000 members of Transit Workers Union Local 100 that work for New York City Transit running the city's trains and buses went on strike. Most of the media coverage has focused on the minutia of the final contract deal and the inconveniences of stranded straphangers. As I sit in my office after biking over the Brooklyn Bridge on a clear December morning, I know they have missed the true meaning of this contract debate: the future of the middle class in New York City, and more broadly in the United States.
Our mayor, Michael Bloomberg, perfectly framed this meaning in today’s New York Times [December 20th].
Mr. Bloomberg said that a walkout would hurt many workers in the hotel, restaurant and garment industries who earn less than the transit workers. The transit workers average $55,000 a year with overtime.
"You've got people making $50,000 and $60,000 a year - are keeping the people who are making $20,000 and $30,000 a year from being able to earn a living," Mr. Bloomberg said. "That's just not acceptable."
Here you have the 'unacceptable' vision of our Mayor for working class New Yorkers--jobs that pay less than $35,000. New York City's economy is growing strongly, but it is growing like a donut, with high paying jobs and lower paying jobs increasing at the same time. From 2000 to 2004, New York City's middle class (families earning between $35,000 and $150,000 per year) declined at a rate that was four times the national average according to New York's Fiscal Policy Institute.
The problem is that a family cannot really live on $35,000 in New York City. Among other things, housing costs for both rentals and especially for home buyers have increased astronomically. Take a look at the meticulously prepared self-sufficiency standard for New York City prepared by the Women's Center for Education and Career Advancement. In none of the five boroughs of New York City, could a family with one adult and one child meet the basic minimum daily expenses (housing, child care, food, transportation) on such a salary. Between $55,000 and $60,000 per year should meet the minimum needs of a family of four, but after living here for 10 years I don't know exactly how.
Middle Class Life at Stake in New York City
That's what makes jobs like those at New York City Transit so vital to the city's health. According to most media reports, the average New York City Transit worker earns between $47,000 and $55,000, while many start at as little as $33,000. While the earnings are modest, the job comes with strong health care benefits and a traditional defined benefit pension.
What do middle class jobs provide our city? At these wages, working families don't have to depend on publicly funded work supports like Medicaid or Child Health Plus that are being stretched by a shrinking tax base. Middle class families bring stability to communities and schools, and have an opportunity to send their kids to college and even out the wealth distribution over the long-term. Most deeply, the existence of good middle class jobs ensures that the promise of opportunity that New York once provided to immigrants and domestic migrants is not lost in the 21st century.
New York City Transit Authority jobs have provided such opportunity, first for Irish-Americans and other Europeans, and now increasingly for Caribbean-American and Latino communities. Contrary to the Mayor's assertions, low-wage workers generally support the existence of middle-class better paying jobs because it does provide a ladder up, rather than begrudging their better position.
What Wages Do Transit Workers "Deserve"?
Bloomberg and Governor Pataki (who actually controls the MTA) have decided to make an all out assault on these jobs. They have basically stated that New York City Transit workers don't deserve the salaries that they are making. Do transit workers deserve these wages?
Transit workers do thankless and dangerous work. Bus drivers face hostile customers and murderous traffic all day. Subway workers toil in dark, vermin-infested, century-old subway tunnels. A mistake by a New York City transit worker can be a life-or-death mistake for riders or for themselves. Since World War II, 132 track workers have been electrocuted or killed by trains in the New York subways, 21 in the last two decades. Basic necessities, like the ability to go to the bathroom, are a luxury for transit workers. So, too, are days off. The New York Daily News' Errol Louis reports that NYCT workers engage in annual ritual of sleeping on cots to request Thanksgiving Day off in person 30 days in advance as required by their contract.
On this basis, it seems clear that these NYCT workers deserve some kind of wage premium for this kind of "dirty job." But wages are set in the market and in a power dynamic between labor and capital, and the question is whether TWU members have a realistic shot at maintaining their middle class lifestyle.
Obviously, middle class life for working people is under attack in the U.S. because of the pressures of globalization?with the most visible symbol of this assault being the 30,000 plus workers of Delphi auto parts who are facing massive wage cuts or layoffs (initially posed as a cut from $27/hour plus to $12/hour or less).
But, New York City Transit workers should be exactly the kind of workers who should be able to hold on to a middle class way of life in the 21st century. Knowledge-driven, high-wage, service-sector economies like that of New York City depend on a web of effective mass transit. Indeed, the recovery of the subway from its graffiti-ridden and violent past has part of New York City's rise from the fiscal crisis of the 1970s. Because of a surge in population and public transit usage, the MTA now has a nearly $1 billion surplus this year. (This is even before they have finalized deals to sell extremely valuable land development rights above train yards in downtown Brooklyn and the West Side of Manhattan). The MTA can afford to sustain a fair living wage for the workers they need to operate the system, and competitive pressures should be tilting in the favor of the workers.
The Contract on the Table and Its Repercussions
The union reports that the MTA's final offer is 3 percent, 4 percent and 3.5 percent. Because this represents an improvement over an initial deal of 2 percent, the media has been reporting this as a better deal than what was initially presented. This "raise" proposal is really no raise at all. Inflation is running at 3.5 percent in Northeastern cities, so this salary increase would leave workers treading water. In exchange for a zero percent real raise, TWU has been asked to accept cuts in retirement security (an increase in the retirement age from 55 to 62) for future workers, a year after the State Assembly passed a bill to lower the transit worker retirement age to 50. (Indeed the union has argued that pension issues should be off the table because they are generally the jurisdiction of the Legislature, which is an argument backed by the Republican head of the New York State Senate). Increased health care contributions were on the table early in the negotiation, and it is unclear what the final deal included on this side.
This contract offer comes after the MTA accepted a three year contract that featured no raise in year one (only a one-time $1,000 bonus) and a two percent (less than cost of living) in 2003 and 2004. That contract represented a sacrifice that many municipal workers made during the 9-11 recession. So, the MTA has asked the TWU to stand still on wages and accept cuts elsewhere. It is really no offer at all for an agency with a billion dollar surplus.
If TWU accepted this contract, it would set the scale downward for all upcoming New York municipal contracts. Other municipal workers have less leverage with the city because their salaries are tied directly to tax revenue as opposed to user fees. TWU should be lauded for defending conditions not just for themselves but for future generations of transit workers, and the rest of unionized labor in New York.
The biggest target for the MTA and their allies in city and state government are pensions. These defined benefit pensions do represent a large liability - - but also are a crucial bulwark against the slide towards retirement insecurity for lower wage workers. The 401(k) model of defined benefit pensions can work for higher wage workers who can manage to save towards a million dollars by the time of retirement and then live off of annuities and interest. This model is not working well for working class people and African-Americans and Hispanics. Only 40 percent of African-Americans and Hispanics age 47-64 can expect to have retirement income equal to fifty percent of their prior salary. So, the kind of pension security achieved by TWU is worth defending.
So, where do we draw the line in defense of middle class living and retirement security? If the MTA gets their way, we can expect a slide in living standards for a whole range of municipal workers. And, we can expect the race to the bottom to continue in service sector jobs like health care and building services that have a chance to pay decent wages to working people in a globalized age. For this analyst and activist, at least, in New York City, the Transit Workers Union is a place where this line is being drawn. It remains to be seen whether the TWU will be able to organize enough external and internal solidarity and favorable public opinion to win this battle. This is especially true since they face stiff fines under the state's Taylor Law for engaging in an illegal strike. But, all of us who profess a concern for living standards and values of economic opportunity and fairness seem to owe them our solidarity. Please do all you can, visit www.twulocal100.org to find out about opportunities to express solidarity. Most importantly, when your friends and colleagues whine about the commute try to tell them what is at stake.
Andrew Stettner
Brooklyn, New York
Andy Stettner works for NELP, the National Employment Law Project.
Moving Forward
I want to thank all the people who sent emails, posted comments to this blog, called and sent cards and letters of condolence over the passing of my father last week. It has been a roller coaster ride of emotions these past few days and receiving so much support from so many people--many of whom I know only via our Internet exchanges--has been a source of inspiration.
The love of my extended family, many of whom traveled great distances to support my Mother, brothers and I, has done a great deal to sustain us. Were it not for the dire circumstances under which we were all brought together, it would have been a wonderful party. We had a great deal of fun in each other’s company, telling old stories and hanging out. I have some of the funniest people in my family and we laughed for hours. I also got to play cook for the whole army and enjoyed the experience.
My Dad was a remarkable man who led a full and active life of service to the community and seeing such a diverse turnout at the viewing Sunday and the funeral Monday morning was a testament to his involvement. Relationships formed more than a half century ago brought well-wishers who’d met him when they were young who were now seniors themselves.
Sadly, my uncle, Dad’s sole remaining sibling was unable to make it from Texas. Not financially capable of traveling on such short notice and beginning to show signs of dementia himself, he never fully comprehended the seriousness of my father’s illness, nor the fact that he had passed.
My mother is now a widow and for the first time in almost 60 years must face life without her husband by her side. She is a strong woman who always maintains a public composure, but I am her son, so I know firsthand that the stone face is a mask hiding emotions gingerly held just below the surface. The whole family is committed to making this transition as easy as possible for her.
In a strange way, not uncommon to families that have dealt with Alzheimer’s Disease, there is a sense of relief. My father’s ordeal is over and he is free from suffering a vastly diminished life. In turn, we are all free to try to resume our lives without the enormous emotional and physical demands of his daily care. It is not a perfect resolution because we no longer have him with us. I’m a heartbeat away from a good cry just writing this. But life must go on, and so we move forward, one day at a time.
A First for the Ivy League
Columbia University made history this week when they named Norries Wilson the first black head football coach in Ivy League history. He’ll take over a Columbia program that hasn't had a winning season since 1996.
The former Connecticut offensive coordinator was introduced at a news conference Monday at Columbia's Manhattan campus, a day after being hired by the Division I-AA program.
The Lions were 2-8 overall this season and winless in the Ivy League.
"I want to say that we're going to be successful in football here at Columbia," Wilson said. "A lot of people don't believe that. A lot of my friends call me and say, 'Coach, what are you doing?' And I say, 'Well, we're going to go win some games.' We're going to teach them how to win and leave them with a great experience as far as playing football."
Columbia hasn't won a league title since sharing the crown in 1961.
Wilson replaces Bob Shoop, who was fired on Nov. 20, a day after a 52-21 loss to Brown. Shoop was 7-23 in three seasons.
Wilson had spent the last seven season as an assistant at UConn and the past four seasons as offensive coordinator for head coach Randy Edsall.
In 2004, Wilson's offense led the Big East in scoring and rushing. The Huskies slipped to second to last in total offense this season with injuries forcing them to use three different quarterbacks.
Raising Awareness
On the heels of World AIDS Day this December 1, here’s information on another AIDS awareness effort.
February 7th is recognized annually as the National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD) - a nation-wide community mobilization initiative that leads to capacity building to increase awareness, participation, and support for HIV prevention among African Americans.
The goal of NBHAAD is to motivate Black Americans at risk for HIV to get educated and tested, and to get HIV/AIDS stakeholders involved in prevention education programs, HIV testing, press conferences, community forums and other activities to raise awareness, participation and support for HIV prevention among Black Americans.
Since 2001, federal, state, and local governmental agencies, community-based organizations, AIDS service organizations, public and private partners in prevention, treatment and care, as well as partners in the business, entertainment, and faith communities have all joined together in support of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
In other AIDS news, two major U.S. cities have reported a recent jump in the number of false-positive results from the OraQuick oral HIV test. Although the rapid oral test is usually 99 percent accurate, public health officials from San Francisco and New York City both say that, lately, the accuracy rate has been quite a bit lower. In response to these reports, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that all positive results from a rapid oral test be immediately confirmed with a rapid blood test, which has had no reported accuracy problems. There have been no complaints of false-negative test results from the oral test.
The call in the middle of the night
I am convinced bad news never reaches you when you are wide awake.
My father passed during the night. He was 84. The fact that we knew it was coming has helped to take away some of the shock. Grieving has been ongoing since the Alzheimer’s took over, so when my brother’s phone call awakened me after 4:00, I was far more accepting and far less devastated than when my mother made a similar call eleven years ago with the startling news of my brother Stan’s death.
I’ll pack and make the trip home today, as will my other brothers. I had planned to go home tomorrow anyway in hopes of seeing him one last time. Now we’ll make preparations to send him off.
Separating the G-men from the ‘Boys
It was a game we had to have.
With both teams coming in tied atop the NFC East, but the Dallas Cowboys holding a lead in the tie-breaker category by virtue of their Week 6 victory, the New York Giants were playing in their first meaningful game in the month of December in almost five years and needed this win at home.
They got it, defeating the Dallas 17-10, but not without allowing the game to get unnecessarily close.
The Giants (8-4) had four sacks, forced two fumbles -- including one that was returned for a touchdown by linebacker Antonio Pierce-- and intercepted Drew Bledsoe twice. The second interception, by Brent Alexander (pictured), came with 1:47 left in the game. Dallas (7-5) got the ball back one more time at its own 4-yard line, but lost the ball on downs after moving to the Giants 44.
New York won despite a shaky performance from quarterback Eli Manning, who was 12-for-31 for 152 yards and was intercepted twice by Dallas cornerback Aaron Glenn. Tiki Barber gained 115 yards on 30 carries for the Giants.
The G-men got on the board first, when rookie Brandon Jacobs capped a 12-play, 73-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Kicker Jay Feely, who missed three potentially game-winning field goals in last week’s loss to Seattle, received a huge cheer from the Giants Stadium crowd after his extra point and after a 27-yard field goal just before the half.
New York led 17-0 one play into the second half after Pierce scooped up a fumble by Bledsoe and returned it 12 yards for a score. But after that, the Giants’ offense went cold, while Dallas got hot and almost tied it up.
The Cowboys moved the ball to the Giants 16 before settling for a 34-yard field goal. They closed within a touchdown later in the third quarter when Glenn stepped in front of Plaxico Burress at the Giants 14 for his second interception of the game and returned it to the 7.
On the next play, Terry Glenn beat cornerback Curtis Deloatch on a fade pattern to make it 17-10.
Manning was intercepted later in the quarter by Keith Davis, but this time Glenn was the goat as his interference call on Burress nullified the penalty.
Feely clanged a 33-yard attempt off the goal post with 5:18 left in the game that would have given the Giants a 10-point lead, but the defense held on for the win and now, with four games remaining, the Giants have sole possession of first place in the NFC East.
The Season for Giving
The holidays are upon us and now is the time when we think about those we love. We express our love by giving from the heart.
This year, show your love for the one who means the most. Give, until it feels good.
Week’s End
I want to thank everyone who sent me links to include in the listing of bloggers who commented on World AIDS Day yesterday. The wide range of stories, remembrances and information presented was inspiring and quite moving. That this was a completely voluntary effort by such a diverse group of bloggers, undertaken with little coordination but a great deal of genuine compassion, is most commendable.
If you haven’t done so already, take some time to click on the links in the entry three below this one and read some of them. As perfectly illustrated in Karsh’s blog, by the absolutely idiotic and senseless comments made by his co-workers, there is still much work to be done educating people about the seriousness of this issue. Some folks just don’t get it until they are personally affected.
Moving on to other matters, I find myself faced with other life and death issues this morning. An email from home informs me my father will be entering a nursing home today. This move has been long resisted by my mother who has been determined to care for him despite the rapidly debilitating affects the Alzheimer’s disease has taken on my father. Over Thanksgiving, this once very active, intelligent and outgoing man was a mere shell of a human being, unable to communicate, barely capable of walking any more, unable to feed himself and surprisingly disinterested in eating as well. To see him in this very helpless state brings me to the verge of tears, and I fear today’s move is just the beginning of the end. Having trained myself to think of our remaining time together in months and weeks, I must now think in hours and days. I fear an unhappy holiday ahead.
World AIDS Day: The Facts
The number of HIV diagnoses in the U.S. reached a plateau from 2001-2004, yet gay and bisexual men continue to account for the largest number of new HIV cases, making up 44 percent of new infections reported in 33 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Click here.
In that same CDC report, New York State accounted for 20 percent of all new infections, with Black men showing the largest increases. Click here.
South African health officials report that an estimated 5.2 million people, or 11 percent of the nation's population, are HIV-infected. The estimate is lower than the health department's most recent number (6.3 million) and higher than the estimate put out by Statistics South Africa (4.5 million), but in any case the researchers said it describes an epidemic that is "massive" and growing. Click here.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has fallen short of its goal of providing life-saving medication to 3 million people living with HIV in poor countries by the end of 2005 and has issued an official apology. WHO did acknowledge that 1 million people are now on medication but exact figures will not be known until next year. Click here.
The Chinese government has introduced a new condom specifically for gay men. Beyond targeting men who have sex with men as a particular at-risk population, it is not known just how this condom differs from any other. However the effort does signify the government’s awareness of a growing problem within an identifiable subsection of the community. Click here.
A substantial number of HIV-positive individuals with proven resistance to antiretroviral drugs had unprotected sex with a partner to whom they could have transmitted drug-resistant HIV, according, the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. Click here.
Think you know all there is to know about HIV and AIDS? Are you an expert on reproduction and pregnancy? Do you know enough about condoms and contraception? Is there anything you don't know about sex? Take these quizzes on HIV/AIDS. Click here.
A list of things you can do to educate yourself and others about HIV/AIDS. Click here.
World AIDS Day: A Personal Perspective
The facts from around the world, as highlighted above, are cold and grim. They chronicle a world-wide HIV/AIDS epidemic that 20-plus years after the first cases appeared, shows no signs of abating.
Here in the U.S., despite recent media hysteria over the “DL phenomenon,” statistics show that the population most seriously affected by the virus continues to be Black men who have sex with men. Despite this fact, resources targeted to understand and address the problem remain inadequate and many in the Black gay community question whether whole new prevention strategies are needed.
The question of why people would still put themselves at risk in an age when there is so much informaton available about HIV transmission and how to keep one’s self safe, remains a dilemma for which there are no simple answers. The reasons can be complex and deeply personal and as far as prevention efforts are concerned, difficult to tackle with one-size-fits-all approaches.
To illustrate, I share my own situation.
I am 45 years old, HIV negative, single, yet haven't been in a steady relationship in years. In a youth-obsessed culture, despite a college degree, a good job and my own perceptions, I am in that sub-population often deemed over the hill and undesirable as a potential mate. Not into clubs and bars, I have found few outlets where my interests and suitable companionship intersect.
By day, I work in organizational development in the HIV/AIDS field, with a housing and technical assistance provider in NYC, and years ago once worked in street outreach. I know the facts, the risks and the consequences of unsafe behavior.
But because of my present relationship status, there are days when I am just plain lonely and horny. I can only be honest. Believe me when I tell you, that’s a lethal combination. It has the power to cloud otherwise clear thinking and make one act on impulse instead of rational thought.
I confess to you now that on more than one occasion, I have fooled around in the steam room at my gym, along with the other lonely, horny men who congregate there. It’s a fairly regular, yet diverse gathering of men, any where from 18-65, all walks of life, and I’m sure with varying degrees of acceptance of their sexual identity. Regardless of their circumstances, regardless of whether I participate or not, you can find the regulars there, trying to get their needs met.
I've never engaged in any major activity there, certainly nothing I’m ashamed of, but I do realize I'm dealing with total strangers who could possibly have any number of STDs beyond HIV. It's just that for all of us, the desire to be touched by another man is all-consuming. There is a profound sense of need present in that room that is absolutely palpable.
I share all this to say that I believe the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, is often a result of an innate need for intimacy and a corresponding shortage of healthier ways to achieve that. We can do HIV education, hand out condoms, create pamphlets and smart commercials, but until we are able to effectively address individual and collective feelings of isolation, low self-esteem, emotional and physical neediness, people will always do things that make no sense, despite all the information that is out there.
It is not so much about not wanting to do the right thing as much as taking advantage of a spontaneous opportunity to fill a gapping void in one’s life. The consequences however can be life-altering.
World AIDS Day: Across the Blogosphere
Once again, the blogger community is joining together to raise awareness about the world wide AIDS epidemic. This list of participants will be updated over the course of the day as I become aware of more blogs, so if you wish to be included, send your link to me at Bernie@bernardjtarver.com.
a burst of light
Advertising/Design Goodness
AIDS Combat Zone
At Thirty-three
Blabbeando
Black Gay Blogger
BrothaLove RantSpace
Brotha on Anotha Side of the Planet
Carmige.com
China in a Nutshell
Christopher's Cypher
Donald
The Edge of Night
EJ Flavors
The Emancipation of ProfessorGQ
flan! flan! flan!
from where i stand
Front Porch Storytellin
J's Theater
J-Notes
Keith Boykin
Lee’s Space
Lynne D. Johnson
Mandrake Society Radio
Marc's Maniac House
Marvin K. White
My Truths
Netzkobolde Blog
Nick's Bytes
Niobium
Old Gold Soul
Online thoughts of a Gay Chinese guy
On My Way
Philly Bred
Prime Time
rod 2.0
sagaciously is...
Savvy101
Seasoned Yet New in Da Life
Sex and the Second City
Simply Fred Smith
Slurred Speech
Steven A. Claiborne...Revealed!
Steven G. Fullwood
The LoveHater
The Republic of T.
The Starr Report
the brotherlove.com
The Unconquerable Soul
Todd Kelley
Walk Your Own Path
What's a Black Man to Do?