Bring in the Violins

I'm trying real hard to be sympathetic to those poor abused NY Transit workers. It's just not real easy when you learn this:

**The average salary of a unionized New York City Transit employee is $48,000. The salary of a New York City police officer with five years experience is $44,100.

Average salary $48,00? What are the top earners making? For driving a bus or train? And they're earning more than the NY police?

**Transit workers pay exactly zero out of their paychecks for health care benefits. This would not change for existing workers — only new hires would, under the MTA's current offer, pay (an apparently unconscionable) 1% of their wages for health insurance.

Earth to TWU, most people with health insurance are footing part of the bill from their salary. That cost keep going up every year too.

**Unlike the rest of the country, which is awakening (albeit slowly) to the realization that retirement should be pushed back to reflect both economic and life expectancy realities, the transit workers, who are already able to retire with full pension at age 55, now think that's somehow unfair and want to be able to retire at 50.

Good Lord, I'm thinking that I'm going to be retiring at age 70. Heck, I'll probably be a Wal-Mart door greeter at age 75.
Now you know why Wal-Mart is so anxious not to have unions in their stores. The unions will have those door greeters earning $48,000 a year.