Federal and State officials are currently investigating reports that the recent blizzard to hit New York City was made much worse by a work slowdown staged by sanitation workers to protest budget cuts:

Selfish Sanitation Department bosses from the snow-slammed outer boroughs ordered their drivers to snarl the blizzard cleanup to protest budget cuts -- a disastrous move that turned streets into a minefield for emergency-services vehicles, The Post has learned.
Miles of roads stretching from as north as Whitestone, Queens, to the south shore of Staten Island still remained treacherously unplowed last night because of the shameless job action, several sources and a city lawmaker said, which was over a raft of demotions, attrition and budget cuts.

"They sent a message to the rest of the city that these particular labor issues are more important," said City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens), who was visited yesterday by a group of guilt-ridden sanitation workers who confessed the shameless plot.

The snitches "didn't want to be identified because they were afraid of retaliation," Halloran said. "They were told [by supervisors] to take off routes [and] not do the plowing of some of the major arteries in a timely manner. They were told to make the mayor pay for the layoffs, the reductions in rank for the supervisors, shrinking the rolls of the rank-and-file."
New York's Strongest used a variety of tactics to drag out the plowing process -- and pad overtime checks -- which included keeping plows slightly higher than the roadways and skipping over streets along their routes, the sources said.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/sanit_filthy_snow_slow_mo_qH57MZwC53QKOJlekSSDJK#i xzz1A6V43RY1

Thats what happens when you mess with the Union.

how horrible that workers express there rights, they must be thrown in jail to apease the lasy ritch slobs who are ment to hold apsolute control over there lives.

I think the fact that they were making mucho overtime explains it all.

Unions put the needs of their members first. Doing work slowly results in more pay to members. Why is anyone surprised?

how horrible that workers express there rights, they must be thrown in jail to apease the lasy ritch slobs who are ment to hold apsolute control over there lives.
Express their rights by endangering the lives of everyone in the city? If they want to express their rights, they should picket or stage rallies, not leave the streets so clogged with snow that it endangers anyone who needs to travel and prevents emergency vehicles from responding in a timely manner. There are reports of people waiting hours for ambulances that were stuck in the snow and at least one women died while waiting (http://queens.ny1.com/content/top_stories/131308/ny1-exclusive--snow-hindered-ems-response-to-dying-mother--queens-woman-says).

Thus far I have seen no proof that these workers did in fact engage in any work slow down? Perhaps they did. But I have not seen any proof of same yet. At this point this appears to be just another attack on unions by "conservatives".

'Guilt-ridden sanitation workers confessed the shameless plot' apparently.

Unions put the needs of their members first. Doing work slowly results in more pay to members. Why is anyone surprised?

Only corporate greed should dictate the "free" market, not the greed of worker's unions. :mad:

Only corporate greed should dictate the "free" market, not the greed of worker's unions. :mad:
Other than a tiny number of unselfish people and organizations, everyone puts their own interests first. Corporations and unions are exactly the same in that regard.

Only corporate greed should dictate the "free" market, not the greed of worker's unions. :mad:

Just what is a free market exactly? Is it a free market when businesses collude with government to fix markets and allow the formation of oligopolies and monopolies? Is it a free market when government is used to actively limit supplies to drive up prices (e.g. healthcare)?

Unions are collectively barganing with employers for wages and benefits. That seems more like a free market to me than rigging markets as Republican supporters do.

Just what is a free market exactly? Is it a free market when businesses collude with government to fix markets and allow the formation of oligopolies and monopolies? Is it a free market when government is used to actively limit supplies to drive up prices (e.g. healthcare)?

Unions are collectively barganing with employers for wages and benefits. That seems more like a free market to me than rigging markets as Republican supporters do.

A "free market" exists when no buyer or seller is large enough to affect the price of goods being sold. Very few markets are actually "free" these days.

The purpose of a union is to eliminate individual bargaining (with the goal of higher wages and more benefits) which makes the employer/employee "market" less free.

A "free market" exists when no buyer or seller is large enough to affect the price of goods being sold. Very few markets are actually "free" these days.

The purpose of a union is to eliminate individual bargaining (with the goal of higher wages and more benefits) which makes the employer/employee "market" less free.

Why focus on labor unions and ignore the bigger issue of government rigged markets?

My definition of a free market is when both sides of the supply and demand curve are free to move without restriction. The beauty of the demand and supply curve is it always finds an equlibrium over time. It doesn't work when suppliers decide to keep their feet on the breaks and artificially restrict supply. Unions are doing nothing different that physicians or big pharma or any of a number of other corporations.

Unions are doing nothing different that physicians or big pharma or any of a number of other corporations. If they can, the first thing everyone tries to do is to make the market less free in their favor.

If they can, the first thing everyone tries to do is to make the market less free in their favor.

It is not fair to single out just the unions. At least the unions are up front about it.

It is not fair to single out just the unions. At least the unions are up front about it. What part of "everyone" in my previous comment didn't you understand?

I think the fact that they were making mucho overtime explains it all.

People who are paid by the hour are not paid to move with a sense of urgency.

Express their rights by endangering the lives of everyone in the city? If they want to express their rights, they should picket or stage rallies, not leave the streets so clogged with snow that it endangers anyone who needs to travel and prevents emergency vehicles from responding in a timely manner. There are reports of people waiting hours for ambulances that were stuck in the snow and at least one women died while waiting (http://queens.ny1.com/content/top_stories/131308/ny1-exclusive--snow-hindered-ems-response-to-dying-mother--queens-woman-says).

So essentially you want them slaves. when you cut their budget you hurt their ability to do exactly like that. You want to treat them like shit and than expect them to work miracles any time a deep snow storm happens they have to priotize roads. when you cut their budget sometimes bad things happen when they choose to priotize different routes


this should be a wake up call for people like you that treat the working class and the back bone of are country like shit. You want to shit on them and than expect them to go give 130% the real world doesn't work that way

Finally someone else who actually sees people as people rather than economic slaves