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Strike's end relieves pressure on Pataki

BY DAN JANISON | STAFF WRITER

December 23, 2005

Until the moment that the transit strike was declared over, pressure seemed to be building on Gov. George Pataki from both sides of the dispute.

From the political right, a taxpayer activist said Pataki had been part of a state leadership that for years allowed unions to expect pension enrichments.

From the political left, an unsigned leaflet appeared on the Brooklyn Bridge that said "This is Pataki's Strike!" -- and urged him to resign if indeed he runs for president.

At City Hall, meanwhile, middle-level aides in Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office said Pataki had been kept apprised of the state Metropolitan Transportation Authority's doings during the negotiations and after the strike began -- but he seemed to be keeping hands off, as usual.

By day's end Thursday, the pressure was relieved. As Pataki spoke about 4:40 p.m. from Rockefeller Center, the buses and subways would soon be rolling.

Asked if there should be amnesty from fines for striking workers or their union, Pataki, mentioned as a presidential candidate, said: "Certainly not from my standpoint. The penalties and the fines under the Taylor Law are automatic. They cannot be waived, they will not be waived."

He ended his press conference on an upbeat note with reporters and wished New Yorkers happy holidays "in the greatest city in the world."

Hours earlier in Albany, his relief was clear when he said, "It's something we can all be happy about because it has been both an enormous inconvenience and hardship on the people who have responded with incredible strength and incredible courage."

The proposed pension concessions at the center of the storm were appropriate for the MTA to seek, but "came out of the blue," said E.J. McMahon of the Manhattan Institute's Empire Center for New York State Policy.

"It was the first effort by any government employer in 30 years to roll back pension benefits, to reverse the tide of pension enhancement," he said. "It came out of the blue, and was done at the employer level when, in fact, it can only be changed at a state level."

The yellow flyer handed out on the Brooklyn Bridge called the union's actions "Pataki's strike" and an example of "his abrogration of leadership." He can run for president, it said, "but then let him resign his office so working New Yorkers can live in peace."