[mikemike]

The NYP is reporting that the poor response to the blizzard was a passive aggressive protest by unions over budget cuts. I won't say that this is fact because it has not been officially confirmed by the union and the NYP is a Murdoch rag with a spotted history of poor fact checking.

But if it is true, is this ethical for unions to put their priorities above public safety?

I know that at least 1 baby died because ambulances were snarled in the snowy streets.

Its one thing to go on strike against a manufacturer over wages but another when you are dealing with sabotaging infrastructure and emergency response I think that if this is confirmed the bosses should be charged with manslaughter.

[Nesster]

And here I was thinking 'budget cuts - less equipment and staff' plus 'Bloomberg won't run again' as the reasons why...

[jeffkrol]

The NYP is reporting that the poor response to the blizzard was a passive aggressive protest by unions over budget cuts. I won't say that this is fact because it has not been officially confirmed by the union and the NYP is a Murdoch rag with a spotted history of poor fact checking.

But if it is true, is this ethical for unions to put their priorities above public safety?

I know that at least 1 baby died because ambulances were snarled in the snowy streets.

Its one thing to go on strike against a manufacturer over wages but another when you are dealing with sabotaging infrastructure and emergency response I think that if this is confirmed the bosses should be charged with manslaughter.

New Yorkers should be out shoveling their own darn roads, not waiting for the nanny state to "help them"........ (MAJOR Sarcasm)

It is as much a part of a New York City blizzard as slush and cold and the color white itself: postblizzard outrage over the municipal response to said blizzard. One can imagine the very earliest settlers of New Amsterdam railed at their Dutch leaders after blizzards. The path to my farm is not plowed! It’s been three days! Het sneeuwt!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/31/nyregion/31outrage.html
And BP should have "paid attention" before killing 11 people.........
There all sad and unnecessary in a sense..........

[Parallax]

It has been many, many years since there was anything ethical about unions.

[dadipentak]

I think the outrage is way overblown: NYC is supposed to be immune to the forces of nature? I also think the rumor you cite is classic yellow journalism.

But to your question,

But if it is true, is this ethical for unions to put their priorities above public safety?

I'd respond with another: Is it ethical for drug companies to put their profits above public health?

[Nesster]

...is it ethical for politicians to put their elections above the public interest, or lives? ... and so on...

[jeffkrol]

Is it ethical for corps to leave large carcinogenic toxic waste dumps and have taxpayers pay for the cleanup, and sometimes w/ their lives...
Gee this thread could be fun...............
Is it ethical to declare something is "pre-existing"?
Is it ethical to say "you cost us too much" so were dropping your insurance?
Is it ethical to start a fake war and kill and maim scores of lives for the sake of either oil or a twisted principal?
Is it ethical to put a "price" on a human life for the sake of profit and liability?
Is it ethical to think one religion is better than another?
Is it ethical to think ones sexual preference is better then another?

[mikemike]

Two (or three or one hundred) wrongs don't make a right.

It will be interesting to see if these claims are pursued and if they are substantiated what kind of accountability unions will assume for their behavior.

[Wheatfield]

New York civic employees at their very best.....

You Tube

You Tube

the language is a bit coarse, turn down the volume if the F-word offends you.

[magkelly]

Some of the people being criticized for not being speedy enough are the very same people who were out there right after 9-11 rescuing people, locating people, volunteering to help with clean up, helping in any way they could, regardless of the potential effect on their health.

I'm not a huge union person myself, but what you have to remember is that the unions are not necessarily the people. Not shoveling snow quickly to get a little attention and a raise, sure, but I can't see the paramedics and such dilly dallying no matter what their union might say. Not in a blizzard.

Those people are New Yorkers and they can and usually will do for themselves if need be. I'm actually very surprised to hear that they were not out there shoveling their own snow. When I lived there the young guys in the neighborhood would go around do it just to make sure everyone could get out. There were some that would try to charge but overall anyone who could physically wield a shovel usually did.

The plows? They were for the big roads. We never even expected them up our streets! If they couldn't shovel it all? They made tunnels out the houses and down to the main streets to use until the snow melted. I think in something like 6 blizzards I was there for I got stuck once for maybe 2 days total at home. That was it.

If this is how things are going in NYC of late? Goodness help them if something else major happens. What a sorry bunch. The neighbors I had on the UWS and in Brooklyn? They made this bunch look like pampered wimps!

[shooz]

They were 400 hands short. It was a BIG storm. After last year they should have seen it coming, but laid 'em off anyway.

Why don't you consider the source? I can't remember the last time a Murdock source didn't bend things all around.
It might have been caused by bigfoot.
Just more uninformed union bashing.

[reeftool]

NYC is in no way equipped to handle a storm like that. It's difficult enough down there for them to plow out a moderate 8 inch snow. Triple that and add in the wind factor which will blow the snow back over the streets within an hour of plowing and it's an absolute nightmare. Even Upstate cities have serious problems in those conditions.

Just a comment on plowing. I can't speak for NYC employees but around here, the Town, County, and State DOT drivers who plow rely on that overtime money to see them through the year. While there may have been grumbling within the unions, I would guess that most drivers probably jumped with joy when the storm hit. My friends locally who plow are feeling the pinch as so far this winter we have been virtually snowless, only a couple of inches and our ground is bare as the storms have passed off to the south and east. A lack of snow WILL bring about seasonal layoffs.