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Did New York City Union Bosses Order Slow Down Of Snow Removal?
Flopping Aces ^ | 12-30-10 | Curt

Posted on 12/30/2010 9:21:41 AM PST by Starman417

The New York Post is reporting that the snow disaster in New York may have been caused by an organized slow down by city workers. According to one politician, who says he speaks for a few whistleblowers, the union bosses ordered the snow removal drivers to slow it all down in protest of the belt tightening going on:

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.

~~~

...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."

But the Post has some of their own sources inside the department and they were told a different story:

But multiple Sanitation Department sources told The Post yesterday that angry plow drivers have only been clearing streets assigned to them even if that means they have to drive through snowed-in roads with their plows raised.

And they are keeping their plow blades unusually high, making it necessary for them to have to run extra passes, adding time and extra pay.

One mechanic said some drivers are purposely smashing plows and salt spreaders to further stall the cleanup effort.

So which is it? A protest or laziness?

I'm thinking it's a little of both. They don't like the fact that since the economic crisis hit 400 trash haulers and their supervisors have been laid off and after the first of the year another 100 supervisors are getting demoted. So I'm betting they are being lazy on purpose but is it organized? Can't put it past union bosses to try some kind of stunt, no matter how ignorant it is. No way this wouldn't come back to bite them in the ass. Plus, much of the "organized protest" story came from a politician who will be one of those blamed for the poor performance of the snow removers. We can always count on a politician to point the finger at something else.

Meanwhile The New York Times is reporting a delay by city officials in declaring a emergency is the real culprit since that would have allowed the workers to pull cars parked in specially designated snow emergency routes and given much easier access to plows:

(Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net...


TOPICS: Government; Politics
KEYWORDS: bloomberg; nyc; removal; snow

1 posted on 12/30/2010 9:21:46 AM PST by Starman417
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To: Starman417

Well, the idiots in NY wanted to overturn the term limits rule so they could keep Bloomburg. I don’t have any sympathy for them now.


2 posted on 12/30/2010 9:25:12 AM PST by cotton1706
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To: Starman417

I wonder if the deaths that occurred because fire/rescue couldn’t get to the people because of the snow can be linked to the unions? If the union deliberately slowed things down, I hope they can sleep at night knowing that a newborn’s death is on their hands. Just a thought


3 posted on 12/30/2010 9:25:24 AM PST by momtothree
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To: Starman417
New York City Union Bosses

Isn't that the same thing as the Mafia?

4 posted on 12/30/2010 9:26:27 AM PST by Jim W N
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To: Starman417

People perform to the metric in which they are measured.

If a snowplow operator is graded upon cleaning his route, and paid hourly - it is in his best interest to clean his route as slowly as time will permit. If he is paid a fixed rate to clear that route, with a bonus for extra work - I think you’d be surprised at how economical and fast a snow plow can be.

If he realizes that he can work 30 hours, and clean his route and the roads to/from his route; plus a couple extra streets and make the same or more pay he made working 40 hours - I’d guess that is what he would do.

Not too long ago, a Software company paid bonus’s on how many software bugs could be removed from their code. Not too suprisingly - many programmers made huge bonus’s by finding bugs they had intentionally written the day before.


5 posted on 12/30/2010 9:29:33 AM PST by Hodar (Who needs laws .... when this "feels" so right?)
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To: cotton1706
As detestable as I find Bloomberg in general, I don't think you can pin this one on him.

These municipal government union thugs on the other hand, are some of the lowest scum walking the planet.

6 posted on 12/30/2010 9:31:54 AM PST by jpl (Our forebears really gave their lives so we could be groped by bureaucratic retards at the airport?)
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To: momtothree

Of course it can be linked to unions — all screw-ups in NYC can be linked to union activity.

And, no, unions don’t care at all about deaths caused by their activity. Unions only care about unions.

NYC needs someone like Thatcher to break the union stranglehold over the city.


7 posted on 12/30/2010 9:33:32 AM PST by GoodDay (Palin for POTUS 2012)
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To: Starman417

Do Marxist have an irrational hatred of the “wealthy” class and a lifelong dysfunctional envy of all forms of success and excellence?

Yes, and it is also true that the Unions had their turn at “payback”, which to do with such great satisfaction.


8 posted on 12/30/2010 9:33:47 AM PST by R0CK3T
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To: GoodDay

“Unions only care about unions”.

Well, then they are soulless. A baby is born in a lobby and dies during the 9 hour wait. If it was me, I couldn’t live with myself. The woman who had to watch her Mom struggle for breath and eventually die while waiting like 8 hours.... couldn’t live with myself either. I guess to some a paycheck is God.


9 posted on 12/30/2010 9:36:36 AM PST by momtothree
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To: Starman417
Did New York City Union Bosses Order Slow Down Of Snow Removal?

Is that question answered in the blog?

10 posted on 12/30/2010 9:39:55 AM PST by raybbr (Someone who invades another country is NOT an immigrant - illegal or otherwise.)
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To: Starman417
There was an interesting business report on a NYC radio station some weeks ago about the growing interest in Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) among New York City businesses. There are a number of them around the city, but interest in them had declined during the recession but has recently begun to revive. Basically, NYC law allows companies located in close proximity to each other to band together and form their own "association" of sorts to handle a lot of the functions that used to be undertaken by government. Street cleaning and maintenance of public areas in the District are the most common functions. The Times Square area is a very successful BID, as is the neighborhood around Penn Station and Macy's in the 34th Street area of Manhattan.

I think that sort of arrangement is the way of the future in many of this nation's largest cities. Municipal government has become unwieldy, inefficient, and costly.

11 posted on 12/30/2010 9:40:28 AM PST by Alberta's Child ("If you touch my junk, I'm gonna have you arrested.")
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To: jpl

I agree, and I’m not really blaming Bloomburg. But they’re mad at the mayor. A different mayor may have given them different results. But they shackled themselves to the same old guy so they’ll have to live with what he did.

In the mean time, though, people died and got brain damage because the unions were in a snit and didn’t like the decisions of those they helped get elected.


12 posted on 12/30/2010 9:46:27 AM PST by cotton1706
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To: jpl
jpl, it is inconceivable how this is NOT Mayor Meffa's
responsibility. Meffa Bloomberg took time from his
responsibilities to help Islam's soldiers build
their 911 Victory Mosque at Ground Zero.

His choice. His dereliction of duty.

13 posted on 12/30/2010 9:54:08 AM PST by Diogenesis (Si vis pacem, para bellum)
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To: Starman417

Please stop bashing these vital union workers. They are essential to the smooth operation of municipal government.
And they have a RIGHT to a job.

And you know that it would be IMPOSSIBLE for them to find a job in the private sector.

Get it right next time......


14 posted on 12/30/2010 9:56:24 AM PST by NeverForgetBataan (To the German Commander: ..........................NUTS !)
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To: Starman417

Maybe someone should charge these unions with how many people they just murdered.


15 posted on 12/30/2010 10:13:19 AM PST by Hardraade (I want gigaton warheads now!!)
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To: momtothree; starman

HERE is video of these criminal union LOSERS destroying a victim’s car!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt_r-jO3lKE


16 posted on 12/30/2010 10:36:25 AM PST by 2harddrive
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To: Hardraade

My thinking exactly!! If these charges can be proven, some union leaders need to be charged with murder, or manslaughter at the very least.


17 posted on 12/30/2010 11:14:14 AM PST by Jess79
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