N.Y. faces chaos

Press, 2 April 1980, Page 8

N.Y. faces chaos

NZPA-Reuter New York New York faced chaos yesterday as the city’s 33,000 transport workers went on strike after negotiations between management tand unions broke down two i hours after a midnight deadline. Militant union members outside the Manhattan Hotel, where the day-long talks were held, cheered when Mr Walter Gellhorn, chairman of the Impartial Mediation Panel, announced the strike. The workers had been demanding a 30 per cent payrise spread over two years, but the financially-stricken i city, fearful that other pub- . lie employees would make similar demands, offered 3.5 per cent a year for three years. - Financial experts have

estimated that : the. strike could cost New York $l4O million a day. Veterans of the transport strike that paralysed the city for 12 days in 1966 prepared for the worst by booking up every available hotel room in the city, and shops reported a rush to buy or rent bicycles. The strikers have said they do not consider themselves bound by the < frequently-broken Taylor ; law, which forbids strikes ’ by public employees, nor would they heed a court in-, 1 : junction forbidding the! strike. . |i . An added complication to|l the expected chaos on the!] roads was a threat by toll! takers on bridges and' tun- 1 nels leading into Manhattanb Island, the heart of the city, 11

: to stage a go-slow in an eni tirely. separate dispute. Car pools have been set up, and motorists have been told that they will be barred from entering the city at certain points during rush! hours unless there are at least three people in their car. The Transport Workers’ Union president (Mr John Lawe) refused to speculate on how long the strike might last, saying only: “If we get a decent contract, we'll by happy to go back tomorrow.” ! Mr Lawe said the management’s last wage offer had been a 6 per cent increase per year over two years. He declined to say what figure would be necessary to convince his members to return to their jobs.