NEW YORK - Commuters spent the day on edge Monday as negotiators struggled to avert New York's first citywide bus and subway strike in more than 25 years， a walkout that could paralyze the big city at the very height of the Christmas rush.
Turning up the pressure on the city's transit agency， union members at two private bus lines in Queens walked off the job early Monday， and the union president warned that a full-blown strike was set to begin at 12：01 a.m. Tuesday.
More than 7 million daily riders would be forced to find new ways to get around if the 33，000-member Transport Workers Union shut down the nation's largest transit system.
Union President Roger Toussaint sounded pessimistic about reaching a deal as he appeared before a boisterous gathering of union members Monday evening.
"As we stand right now， with six hours to go until our deadline， it does not look good，" he said. "I'm going to leave you now and go back to the hotel and give it one last shot."
MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow told New Yorkers to "keep your fingers crossed."
Meanwhile， the union posted a strike plan on its Web site， instructing members to lock up facilities safely and document everything they do to prevent "management sabotage."
If the union's executive board calls for a walkout， buses will drop off all passengers and return to their depots. Subways will finish their trips as turnstiles are chained and locked.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said a walkout could cost the city as much as $400 million a day — a figure that includes police overtime and lost business and productivity. It would be particularly harsh at the height of the holiday shopping rush.
The mayor said a strike would freeze traffic into "gridlock that will tie the record for all gridlocks."
Transit workers are barred under state law from going on strike. A walkout could bring punishing fines.
The workers' old contract expired early Friday， but the union and the agreed to keep talking through the weekend.
Many commuter were fed up with the uncertainty.
Enough is enough，" said Craig DeRosa， who relies on the subway to get to work. "Their benefits are as rich as you see anywhere in this country and they are still complaining. I don't get it."
The two sides were divided over wages and an MTA proposal to raise the age at which new employees become eligible for a full pension from 55 to 62.
More than 100 employees of the striking Jamaica Buses and Triboro Coach bus lines formed picket lines early in Queens， many chanting， "No contract， no work！"
Later in the day， hundreds of union members rallied outside Gov. George Pataki's office in midtown Manhattan， partly blocking traffic and screaming for a transit system walkout. "Shut it down！" they chanted.
The companies serve about 50，000 commuters， and are in the process of being taken over by the MTA， meaning they are not yet covered by a state law that prohibits public employees from striking.
The last citywide bus and subway strike in New York was in 1980. The walkout lasted 11 days.
萬市民帶來影響，據(jù)稱每天損失4億美元
本報綜合報道19日早晨，依靠兩條私人公交線路出行的紐約市民只好尋思其他辦法回家。由于美國公交工會組織同公交管理部門于18日舉行的談判出現(xiàn)破裂，上述兩家私人公交公司開始舉行罷工。
據(jù)了解，乘坐公交和地鐵的700萬紐約市民都將因罷工而受影響；紐約市長布隆伯格則稱，罷工會使紐約每天蒙受4億美元的損失。
談判破裂后罷工即開始
據(jù)美聯(lián)社19日報道，18日下午，紐約公交工會同紐約大都會捷運(yùn)局（MTA）在曼哈頓酒店舉行了簡短談判，希望就新雇員、養(yǎng)老福利及罷工事宜達(dá)成共識。但MTA談判人員加里德拉維爾森對外表示：“談判并未取得最終成果。
紐約公交工會官員喬治詹寧斯對此稱：“罷工開始時只會令人稍感不安，不過問題后來會變得越來越嚴(yán)重。沒有人愿意在圣誕節(jié)期間罷工。如果談判存在轉(zhuǎn)機(jī)，我們是不會采取罷工措施的。隨后，紐約兩家公交的運(yùn)營業(yè)務(wù)于19日停止。
不少市民對罷工產(chǎn)生了反感情緒，57歲的布尼達(dá)指著身邊數(shù)名老嫗說：“怎么能支持罷工呢？司機(jī)不上班，她們就得在寒風(fēng)中走到家，很不安全??！在公交公司罷工之前，紐約市長布隆伯格發(fā)表了例行的周末廣播講話，稱罷工”應(yīng)該被譴責(zé)，它將使紐約市每天蒙受4億美元的經(jīng)濟(jì)損失。
罷工工人未受法律限制
據(jù)了解，在18日相關(guān)談判中，紐約大都會捷運(yùn)局同意三年內(nèi)每年提高3%的新雇員養(yǎng)老福利，但公交工會卻堅持要求將每年的數(shù)字提高到8%；紐約公交工會還反對紐約大都會將新雇員領(lǐng)取全額退休金的年紀(jì)由55歲提高到62歲的做法。
擁有3.3萬名成員的紐約公交工會是于16日宣布19日采取罷工行動的，而皇后區(qū)的上述兩家私營公司約750名工作人員為該工會成員。目前，此兩家公交公司正處在被紐約交通管理部門接管的過程中，因此暫時不受美國禁止公職人員罷工的法律（即“泰勒法）限制。
據(jù)悉，在紐約歷，上一次爆發(fā)全市規(guī)模的公交公司及地鐵罷工事件還要追溯到1980年，當(dāng)時整個罷工活動共持續(xù)了11天。此后，紐約市政*專門制定相關(guān)法律，對參與罷工的公職人員進(jìn)行嚴(yán)懲。（李經(jīng)）
Turning up the pressure on the city's transit agency， union members at two private bus lines in Queens walked off the job early Monday， and the union president warned that a full-blown strike was set to begin at 12：01 a.m. Tuesday.
More than 7 million daily riders would be forced to find new ways to get around if the 33，000-member Transport Workers Union shut down the nation's largest transit system.
Union President Roger Toussaint sounded pessimistic about reaching a deal as he appeared before a boisterous gathering of union members Monday evening.
"As we stand right now， with six hours to go until our deadline， it does not look good，" he said. "I'm going to leave you now and go back to the hotel and give it one last shot."
MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow told New Yorkers to "keep your fingers crossed."
Meanwhile， the union posted a strike plan on its Web site， instructing members to lock up facilities safely and document everything they do to prevent "management sabotage."
If the union's executive board calls for a walkout， buses will drop off all passengers and return to their depots. Subways will finish their trips as turnstiles are chained and locked.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said a walkout could cost the city as much as $400 million a day — a figure that includes police overtime and lost business and productivity. It would be particularly harsh at the height of the holiday shopping rush.
The mayor said a strike would freeze traffic into "gridlock that will tie the record for all gridlocks."
Transit workers are barred under state law from going on strike. A walkout could bring punishing fines.
The workers' old contract expired early Friday， but the union and the agreed to keep talking through the weekend.
Many commuter were fed up with the uncertainty.
Enough is enough，" said Craig DeRosa， who relies on the subway to get to work. "Their benefits are as rich as you see anywhere in this country and they are still complaining. I don't get it."
The two sides were divided over wages and an MTA proposal to raise the age at which new employees become eligible for a full pension from 55 to 62.
More than 100 employees of the striking Jamaica Buses and Triboro Coach bus lines formed picket lines early in Queens， many chanting， "No contract， no work！"
Later in the day， hundreds of union members rallied outside Gov. George Pataki's office in midtown Manhattan， partly blocking traffic and screaming for a transit system walkout. "Shut it down！" they chanted.
The companies serve about 50，000 commuters， and are in the process of being taken over by the MTA， meaning they are not yet covered by a state law that prohibits public employees from striking.
The last citywide bus and subway strike in New York was in 1980. The walkout lasted 11 days.
萬市民帶來影響，據(jù)稱每天損失4億美元
本報綜合報道19日早晨，依靠兩條私人公交線路出行的紐約市民只好尋思其他辦法回家。由于美國公交工會組織同公交管理部門于18日舉行的談判出現(xiàn)破裂，上述兩家私人公交公司開始舉行罷工。
據(jù)了解，乘坐公交和地鐵的700萬紐約市民都將因罷工而受影響；紐約市長布隆伯格則稱，罷工會使紐約每天蒙受4億美元的損失。
談判破裂后罷工即開始
據(jù)美聯(lián)社19日報道，18日下午，紐約公交工會同紐約大都會捷運(yùn)局（MTA）在曼哈頓酒店舉行了簡短談判，希望就新雇員、養(yǎng)老福利及罷工事宜達(dá)成共識。但MTA談判人員加里德拉維爾森對外表示：“談判并未取得最終成果。
紐約公交工會官員喬治詹寧斯對此稱：“罷工開始時只會令人稍感不安，不過問題后來會變得越來越嚴(yán)重。沒有人愿意在圣誕節(jié)期間罷工。如果談判存在轉(zhuǎn)機(jī)，我們是不會采取罷工措施的。隨后，紐約兩家公交的運(yùn)營業(yè)務(wù)于19日停止。
不少市民對罷工產(chǎn)生了反感情緒，57歲的布尼達(dá)指著身邊數(shù)名老嫗說：“怎么能支持罷工呢？司機(jī)不上班，她們就得在寒風(fēng)中走到家，很不安全??！在公交公司罷工之前，紐約市長布隆伯格發(fā)表了例行的周末廣播講話，稱罷工”應(yīng)該被譴責(zé)，它將使紐約市每天蒙受4億美元的經(jīng)濟(jì)損失。
罷工工人未受法律限制
據(jù)了解，在18日相關(guān)談判中，紐約大都會捷運(yùn)局同意三年內(nèi)每年提高3%的新雇員養(yǎng)老福利，但公交工會卻堅持要求將每年的數(shù)字提高到8%；紐約公交工會還反對紐約大都會將新雇員領(lǐng)取全額退休金的年紀(jì)由55歲提高到62歲的做法。
擁有3.3萬名成員的紐約公交工會是于16日宣布19日采取罷工行動的，而皇后區(qū)的上述兩家私營公司約750名工作人員為該工會成員。目前，此兩家公交公司正處在被紐約交通管理部門接管的過程中，因此暫時不受美國禁止公職人員罷工的法律（即“泰勒法）限制。
據(jù)悉，在紐約歷，上一次爆發(fā)全市規(guī)模的公交公司及地鐵罷工事件還要追溯到1980年，當(dāng)時整個罷工活動共持續(xù)了11天。此后，紐約市政*專門制定相關(guān)法律，對參與罷工的公職人員進(jìn)行嚴(yán)懲。（李經(jīng)）