The not-so-live minutes of my commute:

5:30 - Wake up to hear cell phone ringing. Thanks to this industrial caller, I am made aware that the company van will be whipping by my home around 7:30. I do my best to mumble something resembling

How long do you guys think this will last? If we look at history:

1966 Strike - January 1st, 1966 to January 13th, 1966 - 13 Days
1980 Strike - April 1st, 1980 to April 11th, 1980 - 11 Days

So, if the average is 12 days, this strike wouldn’t be over until December 31st/January 1st. Good times ahead.

Workers do not strike every day, they cannot do that the way they function in the capitalist economy. The way they have to live by selling their labor power makes that impossible. Ernest Mandel

All of a sudden the

Like Dana, I am telecommuting today, although I have a feeling that there isn’t much going on in the office since there’s very little being, uh, “commuted” my way. Although the day started early with phone calls from friends asking me how I was going to get in, I figured talking about work counts as actually working and slept an extra ten minutes for every minute spent on the phone. My roommate is also stuck, occasionally checking her Blackberry but more often checking out daytime TV.

In other words, not much to report from the Slope. If I actually manage to get out of my pajamas and slippers I’ll update again, but… at this point it seems unlikely.

I have 2 doctor’s appointments today for the incredibly painful pinched nerve and herniated disk in my neck. I just called and cancelled both of them, because there is no way I can walk in from Brooklyn–it would take me at least 2 hours each way. And they say it feels like 16 degrees with the wind chill factor. I guess I

Fuck the MTA.

Fuck the TWU.

Note to terrorists: now’s your chance!

All right, y’all, I’m picking up where Dana left off.

And, if I may, I’d like to take a brief moment to comment on the fact that, like Dana, tons of working people are passing out as I type (1:27 a.m.), after hopelessly waiting for some word on what will happen later this morning. It’s sad, because a strike seems to be inevitable, and the TWU needs to get on with it. I think there are a lot of people holding out, waiting to be 100% sure of a strike. Late word on the matter will surely just fuel the chaos we can all expect to experience come rush hour this morning.

1:29 a.m. - Trains and buses are still running.

1:32 a.m. - The dude on NY1 with the Giuliani-esque lisp is saying that he has gotten unofficial word from insiders close to the TWU that the executive board has voted to approve a strike effective immediately. No official word as yet.

1:46 a.m. - Roger Toussaint’s (TWU President) is expected to address the public in just a few minutes. And, I’ve suddenly begun craving French breakfast pastries.

1:48 a.m. - Unofficial word is that 28 members of the TWU Executive Board voted to strike, 10 voted not to, and the rest (sorry, I missed the number) voted to abstain. I would have expected a strike to be decided by a unanimous vote. Lame.

1:57 a.m. - Dana said she heard Li’l Giuliani say, unofficially, that 5 people abstained.

2:02 a.m. - Li’l G is getting conflicting numbers from his “sources.” Despite having not received official word from Toussaint and company, NY1’s news ticker now reads that the strike is on.

2:30 a.m. - Every 15 minutes, we’re being told Toussaint will make an official announcement in, uh…15 minutes.

2:57 a.m. - Melissa Russo c/o NBC4 has said that the international TWU did disapprove of a strike.

3:00 a.m. - Toussaint officially announces a strike, ordering all MTA employees to report to their strike duty. College students citywide stop studying for their finals and dust off their beer bongs. In just a few minutes, I plan on heading over to the 86th St. station of the Lexington Ave. subway line to check out what’s going on.

3:13 a.m. - So, uh, I can’t find my keys. Regretfully, I won’t be bringing you exclusive coverage from the Upper East Side. My bad, guys.

3:28 a.m. - After finding my keys under some take-out menus, I proceeded to the 86th St. station, which was still open. The booth had been abandoned, but a few MTA construction workers and a single police officer remained inside. I asked one of the MTA employees, a confused-looking fellow, if he was “headed to the lines.” “Looks that way, ” he said. No name, no follow-up question; I’m ashamed to admit that I apparently learned nothing as a reporter in college. Sorry, folks. But, I can report that it’s fucking cold outside. Good luck to those of you who will be walking to work this morning.

3:37 a.m. - An emergency hearing before the Honorable Theodore Jones at the Brooklyn Supreme Court is expected to begin in moments in order to take legal action against the Union and its members — as to be expected, I guess. I am going to cease blogging until something significant happens or is announced.

5:00 a.m. - Traffic restrictions, as per the city’s contingency plan, have commenced. And, thus concludes this live blog. I’m looking forward to hearing stories of everyone’s commute today. I plan on heading out into the streets and enjoying the mayhem.

12:01 a.m. - The deadline has come and gone and there’s no word yet. TWU president Roger Toussaint is meeting with the 47 executive board members to decide if they will officially reject the MTA’s final offer, which they upped at the 11th hour to 3% the first year, 4% the second year and 3.5% the third year.

12:10 a.m. - Evidently Toussaint wants the strike, but ultimately it’s up to their 47 executive board members. Toussaint is expected to make a statement shortly

12:15 a.m. - NY1 is leaning heavily towards an inevitable strike

12:17 a.m. - Evidently the MTA has also given the TWU Martin Luther King Day as a holiday. I didn’t even realize that was a point of contention.

12:19 a.m. - Still no word from the TWU. NY1 reports that the trains are still running at this time. But I guess they can’t just hit the brakes at 12:01 can they.

12:34 a.m. - Still waiting. NY1 keeps repeating their contingency plans. Taxi’s are turning off their meters and using a zone system; up to $10 within the same zone and up to $5 for each addition zone. It’s all laid out on the NY1 website here

12:50 a.m. - No new info. I’m getting sleepy.

1:12 a.m. - Still waiting. Peter Braunstein was extradited back to NYC today. NY1 just showed some footage of him in custody. He looks like shit. Not that he looked that good to begin with.

1:20 a.m. - Pfft! I had a long day and I need to go to bed. I’m handing the reins over to the one, the only–Art Lowe! Subway spy extrairdinaire and all around awesome unemployeed guy! He’ll continue the coverage in a new post. Goodnight all! Let’s hope they either vote for no strike or go back to negotiate some more.

Now that Peter Braunstein’s been extradited to NYC, I just have to say to his parents…

Nice job raising him. Here’s hope that there are no siblings awaiting the citizens of NYC, half- or otherwise.

Apologies for the Ads and the shameless firefox plug. I just wanted to put up a quick and dirty countdown to the utter chaos that would be a transit strike. Ugh.

Countdown To Possible Pandemonium”

UPDATE: NY1 has nothing new to report. Not much else in the NYC papers either. Supposedly the MTA was supposed to give the TWU their final offer by 9 pm so they could vote by 12:00, but since the MTA made their final offer on Thursday there isn’t much to say about that. The only change I can see is the the TWU says they will now accept 6% raises each of the next 3 years instead of the 9% they were originally asking for. But the MTA doesn’t seem to be going up from the 3% in their final offer. Argh!