David Sirota gets it right with links. See the original. We shouldn’t begrudge a decent standard of living to workers - particularly when it isn’t a living wage for a family (perverting the meaning of “decent standard of living”). Aiding and abetting the decline in America’s living standards isn’t what Kevin is normally about. It’s heartening that, as Scott Shields notes, New Yorkers supported the transit workers union - as did the vast majority of commentators on Kevin’s blog.
To those that would wave budgets and labor costs in my face as I say this, let me also say that the issue is one of priorities and fairness (I won’t even get into the issues of the MTA having a $1 billion surplus just prior to the strike (that they spent in a hurry), nor the MTA history of budget fudging and keeping two sets of books, nor the union’s previous wage concessions when the MTA claimed false financial hardship (see Juan Gonzalez’s comments)). As one commentator mentioned, if New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg can afford to have New York pay $600 million to subsidize a private sports stadium, why can’t he pay a fair wage to MTA workers who, as it is, don’t make enough to raise a family of four decently on one salary. The progressive argument isn’t that since some workers make insufficient wages all should. The progressive, American and humane argument is how to pay a decent living wage to all workers. It’s about priorities.
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